Furor over talk show host’s comments
Re: “Slur drives Imus off air for 2 weeks,” April 10 news story; The MSNBC and CBS Radio host was suspended for referring to members of a women’s sports team as ‘nappy-headed hos.”‘
Don Imus, like so many bigots, receives far more attention and recognition than is warranted.
Certainly his behaviors have to be expunged from public spectacles. On the news, on the air in broadcasting, in marketing, in bawdy humor that is contagious with the generation of bored and cotton-candy culture, he has to stand down. His role in America is to infuse a low level of violence and intolerance of others similarly with poor people.
Hopefully, Don Imus will change his behavior and realize that inflicting pain and hatred in the world is unethical and unjust. Perhaps he will never understand what the activists are speaking about when we talk about getting back to treating every other person in the same way we treat our cherished friends.
Nothing can be more important than the gestures, words and sentiments of people expressed toward one another with grace. If we are any better for listening to Imus’ litany, it is that all of us are capable of the same pointless tirades just to look good or for money. We all have to pay attention and be aware that it is easy to forget who we are and to walk softly on the earth. We are here a brief time and we want to live leaving the path we walk with serenity and malice toward none.
Randle Loeb, Denver
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There are many people, including myself, who are sickened and outraged by the recent comments made by Don Imus. This being said, I believe there is a larger issue here, and that is the way we handle these situations after they occur. Do we, as a country, want to send the message that these types of racist comments can occur and then be forgotten with a simple apology and slap on the wrist?
During a visit to the “Today” show, Mr. Imus confessed that he knew what he said was wrong and then went into an explanation of how the words he spoke were used as a negative reference within the African-American community. This raises a second question. Do we, as a country, think it is OK for an individual on radio or television to make a blatantly ignorant statement and then claim intelligence on the matter after the fact in hopes of it being forgotten?
Angela Rainbolt, Laramie, Wyo.
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There is a wrongheaded premise permeating this nation that what Don Imus said about the basketball-playing ladies was spawned from hate and racism. This not true.
I watched Imus say his ill-conceived, lame attempt at a joke, and it wasn’t pre-planned. It didn’t come from hate or racism, it came from a guy who is noted for bad taste in humor, uncalled-for remarks and a knack for going for the jugular to friend and foe. But he is also a guy who has raised $100 million for various causes. He champions a ranch for cancer-stricken kids who receive a week of relief by trying to be cowboys. He and his wife are heavily involved in searching for a cure for autism. He raises large bucks in the fight against sickle-cell anemia. Hardly a guy possessed by hate and racism.
The word “ho” didn’t originate with Imus. It came from the lexicon of blacks and is featured in the black music known as rap.
So, you who are all for crucifying Don Imus, get over it. He has apologized ad nauseam, even grovelled to some who couldn’t walk a foot in his boots. Mr. Imus is no more racist than you or I.
Phil Kenny, Colorado Springs
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As a 67-year-old fogey, I ask: What does “ho” mean? Doesn’t it have something to do with Santa?
Tom Bunge, Denver
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One Rutgers basketball player, Kia Vaughn said, “Unless they’ve given ‘ho’ a whole new definition, that’s not what I am.”
Whoopie Goldberg did give “ho” a whole new definition, or maybe gave herself a whole new definition, by labeling her production company One Ho. Whoopie is not as famous as Oprah Winfrey and Harpo Productions, but they both gained access to fame in the movie “The Color Purple.” There were no purple people in the movie, but special colors sometimes portray cultures.
Slang common to one culture is usually offensive when the same language is used by somebody from a different culture who is trying to be cute. Don Imus shouldn’t use words he does not understand just to make his radio audience think he is groovy. Imus has no groove; he has only a “niche,” because talk-radio junkies love this sort of controversy.
Steve Schweitzberger, Littleton
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It would be wise for these female athletes from Rutgers and their coach to remember that the Bible says, “If you beg forgiveness for your sins, you must first forgive those who have sinned against you.” Don Imus has apologized for his bad commentary, so accept this and get on with your lives, remembering those Amish parents who forgave the man who killed their children and said they would pray to God to forgive his sin.
William P. Hinckley, Columbine Valley
Realistic immigration reform in the U.S.
Re: “Close ranks on immigration,” April 10 editorial.
No immigration reform plan will work until the borders are secure and an ID that is very difficult to fake is in place. There are millions of illegals in the U.S., plus probably a billion or so others wanting to come here. They will continue to come in with fake IDs or no IDs until we make that impossible.
What value accrues to the U.S. by giving illegals citizenship? I believe the illegals’ invasion of our country is a fiscal and social negative that is getting worse every day. How many are enough? A billion?
Dave Miller, Sedalia
Electoral College
Re: “Electoral College is outdated,” April 10 editorial.
Your editorial about the Electoral College is one of the more harebrained I can remember. The Electoral College is one of the few ways that smaller-populated states such as Colorado can still keep an oar in the political process. The Electoral College was devised so that low-population states did not have to suffer a “tyranny of the majority.” It still works that way. If we did away with it, we might as well just not bother with national elections, and let the big cities like New York and Los Angeles run the place with their far-left mentalities. I promise this much: Any politician who even breathes that he or she thinks the Electoral College should be abolished will lose my vote permanently.
Bill Dietrick, Pueblo West
Two ideas to fund war
The debate over whether President Bush will veto the bill funding the continuation of the Iraq war misses an essential fact: We have never paid for any of the war. Instead, we have added $400 billion or so to our national debt so that maybe our kids or grandkids can fund the war, or at least the 2003-07 portion of it.
Our $400 billion tab in Iraq works out to about $1,300 per person so far. Why don’t we just send every American man, woman and child a bill? I suggest we call it the “Bush-Cheney No-Strings-Attached Open-Ended War Unconditional Blank Check Mission Further Accomplished Surcharge.” That would determine once and for all how enthusiastic Americans are about funding the war.
Dan Danbom, Denver
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In response to the current Iraq war funding battle, I offer the modest proposal that Congress pass an additional $3 per gallon gasoline tax to pay for the war. This proposal will enable us to fund the ongoing war without raising deficits, have us pay the price for our consumption, both symbolically and realistically, and make the gesture of putting those “support the troops” stickers on our cars ring less hollow.
Sam Walker, Denver
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