There’s more to the Don Imus story than just insults, apologies and dismissal. His show-biz demise offers a lesson that goes way beyond his particular blunder. After years of spewing venom at those who couldn’t respond, Imus pushed his luck and received a smacking in return. His ridicule of the spunky Rutgers women’s basketball team was more than even his listeners – or his advertisers – could tolerate. The result was certainly beyond his expectations.
This wasn’t just an issue of racial derision, though that played a big part in the ensuing outrage. There was just no reason to disparage a group of young women who had played their hearts out for the national basketball championship – and were also African-American. Good for Imus for apologizing and meeting with the disheartened team. But it was too late.
For too long, it has been acceptable (even essential) for so-called “shock jocks” and talk show hosts to be offensive in their comments. No doubt they want to attract multitudes of listeners. But what a commentary that is on Americans who listen to talk radio. Do we really have to insult people to be interesting or to attract sponsors? The advertisers on Imus’ show finally said, “no.” Let’s hope there’s more of the same.
Imus’ fall from favor is a lesson to all of us. Ridiculing someone really isn’t funny. If you have to demean others to get a laugh, maybe it’s time to figure out why you think that’s the way to be funny. Maybe it’s time to put yourself in the skin of those you disparage. It’s one thing to poke fun at yourself. It’s quite another – and truly unacceptable – to be funny at the expense of someone who can’t fight back. If you’re a talk show host, you have the microphone. Those you belittle have no effective way to take you on or respond to your insults.
Humiliating people is simply a way to hurt them. And why is that funny? Making others feel scorned does nothing positive. When it comes from a boss, it certainly doesn’t motivate people to perform better. When it comes from a talk show host, it only feeds prejudice. When your audience laughs at your insulting comments about those different from them, it only shows their – and your – bigotry. There’s nothing to be proud of in that.
By listening to the kind of disparaging commentary that is all too common on American talk shows, we encourage behavior that is divisive in a country that prides itself on accepting people from all backgrounds. It makes a mockery of our self-congratulatory human rights pronouncements. It destroys our commitment to the founding American concept that all people have a right to the pursuit of happiness.
We should all be proud that in America today, women can be nationally recognized athletes regardless of their race. We should want the rest of the world, where there is so much religious and ethnic hatred, to see that people of all ethnicities can be successful and valued in America. That is our greatest gift to the world. Racial sneers don’t just demean the group at which they were aimed, they degrade us all.
There is something we can do to improve the level of discourse in the American media. We can stop laughing at insults that aren’t really funny, but are simply at the expense of other Americans. We can tell the sponsors we won’t buy their products. We can reward the talk show hosts who stimulate debate rather than prejudice. We can laugh at ourselves for our foibles and idiosyncrasies. That, not insults, is what is really funny.
Gail Schoettler (gailschoettler@email.msn.com) is a former U.S. ambassador and Colorado lieutenant governor and treasurer.
