Wheel Column: For Imus, Punishment Doesn't Fit the Crime

The spectacular fall of Don Imus raises an interesting question: was firing him the right thing to do, or did NBC and CBS overreact under pressure?

Without any doubt, Imus' comments concerning the Rutgers' women's basketball team were disgusting, indefensible and unacceptable. But in this instance, the punishment did not fit the crime, especially in light of our culture's significant double standard involving racist and sexist remarks.

Imus quickly apologized and expressed remorse. He should have been suspended (as he was) and forced to make his show less offensive and more inclusive of different demographics. But firing him for one comment, no matter how bad it was, was the wrong thing to do.

It's especially hypocritical that the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson would call for Imus' resignation or termination. Both of these gentlemen have made inappropriate, even racist, comments in the public spotlight before, and they each got another chance. In 1994, Sharpton offended the LGBTQ community when he told an audience at Kean College that Africans "taught philosophy before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it."

Sharpton also wasted no time jumping in front of television cameras after the Duke lacrosse players were charged with raping a young African-American woman. He all but pronounced the three young men guilty - playing the race card in the process - even though we now know they were innocent. Sharpton has yet to apologize for these remarks.

Like Sharpton, Jackson went after the Duke students and still hasn't apologized. In 1984, he went so far as to refer to Jews as "Hymies" and New York City as "Hymietown" in an interview with The Washington Post. How this slur is acceptable while Imus' demands such harsh recourse is a mystery.

Both Sharpton and Jackson have done a lot of good. But as seen above, both have made racist remarks and used slurs in a public forum before. They each got another chance.

Imus too has done a lot of good, raising more than $40 million for charity on his show in the past 20 years and operating a ranch that kids who are dying from cancer can visit for free. If Sharpton and Jackson were each granted another chance, then they shouldn't deny Imus one either.

But another aspect of Imus' case that needs to be addressed is the double standard concerning the use of certain language in this country. Hip-hop artists routinely use words much worse than those said by Imus in their songs. They can be said to have started the trend of referring to women as "hoes." Rap lyrics frequently demean people based on race and gender. But somehow, be it their race or the context of their artistic expression, the artists are given a free pass to use this language even though when Imus says the same things he is crucified. Imus should not have said what he said, but neither should the rap artists.

Sharpton says he'll continue his quest for clean language beyond Imus to these artists. Don't count on it. Sharpton jumps from bandwagon to bandwagon in order to stay in the limelight and prevent himself from slipping into irrelevancy. The media won't devote 24/7 coverage to cleaning up rap music, so there's no incentive for Sharpton to keep up his crusade. Furthermore, it is clear that he will not get much help from those within the industry.

Russell Simmons and Benjamin Chavis released a statement on behalf of the Hip-Hop Action Summit Network that reads, "Hip-hop is a worldwide cultural phenomena that transcends race and doesn't engage in racial slurs. Hip-hop artists rap about what they see, hear and feel around them, their experience of the world. Like the artists throughout history, their messages are a mirror of what is right and wrong with society." But a racial, ethnic or gender-based slur is a slur no matter what the context is.

Snoop Dogg also doesn't seem to get it. He told MTV, "[Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports." Snoop seems to suggest that it's okay to demean people who didn't make it to college. That doesn't seem right.

We need to put a stop to slurs and demeaning language. Talk radio hosts shouldn't use it, famous civil rights leaders shouldn't use it and hip-hop artists and rappers shouldn't use it. If someone gives a sincere apology and expresses a willingness to change, then he or she deserves a second chance.

Benjamin Van der Horst is a College sophomore from Cincinnati. He is executive director of the nonpartisan political organization CSAmerica and the managing editor of the Emory Political Review.

This ran on 4/17/07.