Originally posted at The Seminal, by Jake.
Racism exposed or Racism exploited?
I want to go on record and state a few things. I work in politics and I am a fan of Don Imus. I was a fairly regular listener to his show, and I often watched him on MSNBC from 6-9am weekdays. But I wasn’t a fan of his "rants." I watched and/or listened to Imus in the morning because of the major, nationally relevant interviews he was able to conduct. Big Time politicians went on his show, hence I watched it, and to give Mr. Imus credit I learned more about politics and the way that politicians think from watching his program and listening to his radio show than I learned from anything Wolf Blitzer or Tucker Carlson or Chris Matthews ever had to offer.
Imus’ political discussions were, and will be for some time, unmatched. Imus truly allowed politicians, from both parties whether it be Senator Rick Santorum or Senator John Kerry, to voice their ideas. Imus asked great questions too. Off the wall stuff. Sometimes he stumped the politicians, sometimes he made them laugh; sometimes he played into their hands. It didn’t matter: when it came to radio news Imus was, in my opinion as someone who actually pays attention to this stuff, top notch.
That being said...
I agree with the general consensus that what Mr. Imus said last week was racist and sexist. However, I’m concerned on a few levels.
For example, why do I feel that Reverend Al Sharpton benefited from this "scandal" more than the female basketball players at Rutgers University did? Why was Jesse Jackson involved? How come whenever a woman is in trouble, some man has to come around? Was Rutgers unable to handle this on their own? Sure didn’t look like it to me...
Mr. Imus did try and right his wrong, and he did it the right way by actually reaching out to the Rutgers players themselves. Even after he got fired by both MSNBC and CBS radio he still met with the players and they accepted his apology.
So my question is this: Shouldn’t the only opinion that really matters in this whole debacle be the opinion of the female Basketball players at Rutgers University and how they feel towards Mr. Imus? They accepted his apology, and America is an apologetic nation...and the coach said she felt sorry that he was fired (even though his firing had to do with the loss of sponsors more than outrage over what he said.) The basic tenets of Christianity require forgiveness for those who actively seek forgiveness...so what does it mean that Reverend Al Sharpton will "not forgive" Mr. Imus? That being said...
First off, the "Imus Gate" thing was, well, blown way out of proportion, and for the wrong reasons. Here’s why: People like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were very much focused on the "Nappy Headed" aspect of Imus' sentence. Yes, this is a derogatory statement towards African American Women but, in all honesty...a lot worse could have been uttered.
My biggest problem was what came next. Don Imus referred to the Rutgers female basketball team as "Nappy Headed Ho's." It’s the "Ho's" part of the sentence I truly have the most problem with, and it was that aspect that everyone seemed to overlook the most. Of all the news I watched, both on ESPN (who had, by the way, excellent commentary on the subject, and MSNBC and to a lesser extent CNN), all people talked about was the racial import of Imus’ remarks. It seemed as though every damn network just tried to find an African-American personality to talk to. And I don’t mean that with any ill-intent, I watch the news a lot...let's just say I saw a lot of people I’d never seen before representing organizations that are, well, "who the fuck cares" sort of places. Every news organization felt the need to address the black perspective of the argument, but I felt the overall attitude towards female athletes was what needed to be addressed most.
Female Athletes face a lot of shit in contemporary society. First off, many of these women aren’t even considered women by many standards. These women are labeled as "Lesbians" at a majority of college campuses by the students who walk amongst them. They’re completely ignored by the entire student body of which they are a part, and then ignored by the sports media because they A) have to stay in college and B) there is no draft for female athletes.
I’m sorry, but sometimes I feel that sexism trumps racism as a major problem in American public life. The treatment of female athletes is a prime example of why I feel that way. The University of Tennessee (good ole rocky top WHOO) Lady Vols are the favorites to win the female NCAA tournament every year, and they do win at a sick rate (more so than current back-to-back male winners the Florida Gators). But people don’t know this. There isn’t a women’s NCAA bracket pool in the office I work in (I tried to start one and got laughed at). Does Women’s basketball, at the collegiate level or pro level, or ANY female sports PERIOD get any sort of recognition?
Yet Rev. Sharpton's argument was solely based on race. Does he know that there are several players on the Rutgers team who are white? Look, Mr. Sharpton, I know that causing a stir can do a lot for your "not-so-happening" political career, but let’s make the real issue seen. America cares nothing for female athletes. Don Imus’ comments were awful, saddening, and (sadly) characteristic of what much of America secretly thinks, but in my opinion it had less to do with the racist overtones than it did with sexist implications.
These women who play for Rutgers are going to a great school, they went to the NCAA finals, and even if they had won no one would care. These women have to face the fact that no matter what they do on the court, it really won’t matter to mainstream society, and even worse it doesn’t matter in the sports world. They aren’t going to get the $50 million Nike Contract that Kevin Durant from the University of Texas (after 1 year playing NCAA ball and losing early in the tourney) is going to get.
Men’s basketball is about money, women’s basketball is about playing a game, doing your best, and living the American Dream. LeBron James, with all the money he has and will make isn’t "living the American Dream." He’s living the American Fantasy. He didn’t go to college, work hard, and pay his way. He has a great jump shot and he’s a clutch player. There’s nothing wrong with that at all: he had an opportunity and took it and is doing fantastic with it, and will continue to do so.
But now name me one female athlete in America who’s gotten that chance. Please. Give up?
Let's show some respect. Female athletes, regardless of color or creed, are not nappy headed ho's...they’re level-headed women.
These women, yes WOMEN, play the game because they get to play the game they loveand get a great education. Female athletes with full-ride scholarships on average graduate with higher GPAs than their male counterparts (oh, yea, and they actually fucking graduate). They go on to excel personally and professionally. They aren’t thinking sports and nothing else, they aren’t thinking Nike ads, they’re thinking careers. They’re . . . drum roll . . . role models. That’s the argument that needs to be made, and they need not be insulted by 66-year-old men on AM radio.
The worst part of the whole Imus-gate incident was that the Rutgers team was the least talked about part of the argument. When the team held their sole press conference to discuss the ordeal, they talked about compassion for Mr. Imus and that if he felt he wronged them, then he’d have a chance to speak with them.
The Rutgers athletes were the real heroes of this debacle. They weren’t insulted by the coded reference to the color of their skin, they were insulted for the derogatory reference to their being female athletes in a male-dominated sports society. (The TEAM was insulted, not an individual player...and they faced it as a TEAM...bravo. Peyton Manning salutes you.) No one really talked about that. Also, they handled this un-wanted and saddening fame with complete social grace that I will truly classify as "lady-like" which is a term I find synonymous with "better than a man would’ve handled it."
They didn’t point fingers, they didn’t ask for sympathy. They got put in a situation they didn’t want to be in, or really want to deal with, and they handled it with complete grace even with intense media scrutiny. My hat is off to the Coach and the Players on the Rutgers team.
Meanwhile, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton sparked a media witch hunt on racism. In a week in which we are celebrating Jackie Robinson’s integration into major league baseball (the single greatest act in American history, and the one that started Civil Rights in my opinion, and I dare you to challenge me on this). It’s been 60 years since that day, and I’m saddened that we’re still discussing race at this level.
Jackie Robinson didn't start off great, but he couldn’t quit. He had something to prove. I heard a story about the Brooklyn Dodgers visiting the St. Louis Cardinals and black fans in St. Louis were rooting for the Dodgers. When a white fan asked a black fan why he was rooting for the opposing team, the man pointed and said, "Because we don’t have this...yet." In a week in which we are celebrating racial diversity in sports, and in my opinion racial diversity in America as a whole, and commemorating the days when Jackie Robinson rounded the bases a good 15 years before college campuses were integrated (at gun point), I’m saddened we still live a culture that is at odds. But I don’t feel that this moment was the moment to make that argument.
Mr. Imus made a big mistake, and he’s paid for it. And Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson used their stature to escalate the issue for PERSONAL gain. They made it a black/white issue when, in my opinion as a liberal sports fan, it was truly more of a male/female issue. I say that because you never hear a bad word about an all African-American basketball team starting line-up.
Al Sharpton may write a book on this and get invited to speak on this issue to universities, organizations, prestigious clubs and so on...but what are the players who actually got insulted going to do? They’re going to play basketball, be good at it, get their degrees and then move on with their lives...the 21st century American dream. I hope nothing but success for them, because, as my mom said of them when we spoke of this the other night, "Jake, they aren’t girls...they’re women." This is true. These players are women and should be treated as such.
I don’t even want to get into the whole hip-hop argument and "if black people say it why is it ok for them to say it and not us" bullshit idea. It’s a scapegoat. Regardless of the racial implications of the statement uttered by Don Imus it was, in my opinion, a scathing attack on the American conception of Female Athletes as a whole...that is, we don’t care about them. We should care about them. Allen Iverson can make the perfect pass every day and make millions, but one of these players for Rutgers, one of these so-called "nappy headed ho’s," is going to use her education to make America a better place.
Maybe she’ll become a psychiatrist and cure Reverend Al Sharpton of his egotistical, self-pumping, race-baiting nature. And after an hour with Sharpton, she could cure Mr. Imus, and Mr. Limbaugh, and Mr. Savage, of all their racial slurring tendencies and make them realize that America isn’t a vanilla milkshake, but rather a multi-swirl that some may find hard to swallow...but they better swallow, because the flavor certainly isn’t going to change just because they want it to. She’s going to change the world through academia, not through endorsements, and that’s why she should be applauded. She handled this ordeal with grace when the rest of us just wanted to see someone fired, and once we saw that happen we believed the problem was suddenly and amazingly gone. Maybe that’s why she’s a woman, and the rest of us are just little girls who run towards the easiest answer because we’re too scared to embrace the real problem.