CBS fired Don Imus for doing what broadscasters pay him to do—make racy and insensitive comments. His radio show was part of the ""shock-jock"" niche, as people listened in because they wanted to hear what the jock would say next. Imus has made a living denigrating people of color, different religions and women.
For one to say his comment about the Rutgers women's basketball team was the straw that broke the camel's back does not make sense. Never before has there been uproar like this over one of his highly offensive statements.
The reason for this sudden uproar is not a sudden change in the ethical stance of society.
Imus's statement is no worse than some of his other rants, so the broadcasting companies airing his show hoped and prayed listeners would pass off his tirades as entertainment.
Someone had to rain on the parade and force broadcasters to stop supporting Imus. How can the broadcasters change their image from supporters of racism and make any good of this event? They become strongholds of anti-racist sentiment and publicize their firing of Imus in a way that society will think the only people more offended by Imus' statements were the broadcasters themselves.
While the media patted themselves on the back for ridding the world of such an insensitive man, New Jersey Gov. John Corzine wanted in on the action and decided to moderate a meeting between Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team.
On his way to the meeting, the car he was riding crashed into another car. The governor severely broke his leg and 12 ribs among other broken bones. While the governor laid in the New Jersey hospital on life support, his story was just a side note to the anti-Imus media mega-display.
The media is not wrong in condemning racism. The media is wrong in the supposition that racism is a problem in mainstream media. We are at the point where comedians are comfortable making racially charged jokes. A boundary is only crossed when somebody leaves the realm of comedy and entertainment and enters the realm of hatred.
When Michael Richards angrily screamed out the n-word in his display of blatant racism, there was no comic element in his words. He, much like Imus, wanted to shock the audience—""It shocks you, it shocks you,"" said Richards. There was no issue of white versus black. Black and white people alike left the venue once Richards exposed himself as a hateful person.
The reason that Imus survived this long is that he played with the boundary of hatred and entertainment. His forum on the radio is one where people expected strong opinionated sentiment, and people listened to get a fire going inside of them once Imus spewed out a racially or sexually charged comment. Although Imus' raison d'Aªtre was to make disparaging comments about minorities and women, he crossed into the realm of hatred when he picked on the Rutgers women's basketball team.
His statement was not shocking or surprising; it was mean spirited, cruel and needless. Perhaps the time when Imus has to pick on women's basketball teams is a time when he is ready to go. He could not stoop any lower.
