New York – The 10 members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team who sat on a platform at their campus Tuesday were a quietly eloquent reminder of how mindless media insults affect real people.
The women, called “nappy-headed hos” by radio host Don Imus, include a class valedictorian, a future lawyer and a piano prodigy who plays classical compositions without sheet music.
In their first comments about Imus’ remarks, the team talked Tuesday about how the insult stung. Some of the women wiped away tears as their coach, C. Vivian Stringer, criticized Imus for “racist and sexist remarks that are deplorable, despicable, abominable and unconscionable” the day after they reached the NCAA finals.
The young women, half of them freshmen and eight of them black, expressed incredulity at how someone they’ve never met could say such a thing about them.
“All of our accomplishments were lost. … We were stripped of this moment by the degrading comments made by Mr. Imus,” said Heather Zurich, a sophomore forward.
The women agreed, however, to meet with Imus privately next Tuesday and hear his explanation. They held back from saying whether they’d accept Imus’ apologies, and they didn’t pass judgment on whether the two-week suspension imposed by CBS Radio and MSNBC was sufficient.
Their reaction to meeting the man who insulted them may ultimately decide whether he keeps his job.
Rutgers’ athletic director, Robert E. Mulcahy III, thought a meeting with Imus would offer the players a chance to listen to him and hear what he has to say. Several players said they wanted to ask the host why he would make such thoughtless statements.
“We all agreed the meeting with Mr. Imus will help,” said Essence Carson, a junior forward.
Imus, who has made a career of grumpy insults in the morning, said he hadn’t been thinking when making a joke that went “way too far.” He also said that those who called for his firing without knowing him, his philanthropic work or what his show was about would be making an “ill-informed” choice.
Stringer said her players “are the best this nation has to offer…. They are young ladies of class, distinction. They are articulate. They are gifted. They are God’s representatives in every sense of the word.”
The team’s players said they hoped the scandal would serve as an opportunity to speak up for women and give a voice to issues such as racism and sexism.
“It kind of scars us,” said team member Matee Ajavon. “We grew up in a world where racism exists, and there’s nothing we can do to change that.”
