Dean's World

I have a love/hate relationship with Don Imus. Well, that's an exaggeration — he doesn't know who I am so it's not really a "relationship" at all. But on my end, I have mainly given up the show, and I pretty much hate what's on it most of the time.

But this, I love.

I still say "Nappy-headed hos" is not worth this much attention. Especially from a fool like Imus, who is just a shock jock and not a real political commentator.

I understand getting your feelings hurt because someone calls you a bad name, but this is surreal.

I don't like Don Imus. I never have. But Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, what a bunch of sobbing whiners America's women have become.

Radio shock jock Don Imus recently issued an offhanded rude comment about a group of stellar, amazing college basketball players. His comment was mildly racially inflammatory, somewhat more sexist, and totally stupid. It was also just an offhand comment by a well-known shock-jock who's made his whole living being obnoxious.

The reaction of these poor wilting-lilly women and their coach? And both the "liberal" and "conservative" political establishments? Just look at the results: the coach gives us a lengthy and unnecessary defense of her players in a national press conference, while everyone else fulminates about the evil men and/or the evil liberals and/or evil conservatives or whatever.

What next? Will all these fragile flower basketball ladies get the vapors and faint?

Does even one of them have the moxie to just say, "to hell with you Imus, you stupid old fart" and otherwise forget his stupidity?

My God. When did American women--black women no less, who are usually so proud and so strong!--become such freaking wimps?

*Update*: Mrs. Esmay is even less charitable than I am.

*Update 2*: If these women had any balls at all, they'd make fun of creepy old Imus, challenge him to a game of one-on-one, and then ask him to lead the tipoff in their next game after they embarrassed him.

*Update 3*: Since some seem not to have clicked the link that led to my rant above, here are some choice quotes from the coach who held the national press conference:

"We have all been physically, mentally and emotionally spent. So hurt by the remarks that were uttered by Mr. Imus."

"Yes, and I’ve cried and I’ve been angry and disappointed. Because I don’t understand all of that. And yet, to a great extent I do. I do. "

"It’s more than the Rutgers women’s basketball team. It is all women athletes. It is all women."

"Is there malice in my heart? No, I’m hurt. But I do recognize that this issue speaks to a bigger issue. To utter such despicable words are not right, whether spoken by black, white, purple or green, male or female, tall or short, skinny or thin, fat, whatever. It is not right. It’s time for everybody to reflect on what is going on. Oh it’s time, ladies and gentlemen. It’s been time."

"And I trust that our president, our governor, our athletic director will continue to lead, support, respect, honor and defend these young ladies."

You need a national press conference and the involvement of political leaders, to tell us all you've cried and you're hurt and you need these young women defended--from a jackass shock jockey like DON FRICKIN' IMUS?!!?!?

More developments in the Imus story -- dumped by MSNBC -- and more agita... more hypocrisy.

Better him than me. But better not at all. Could some good come of this?

Who is Don Imus? Seriously, I don't know. I guess he's on the Radio, or TV, or something. I had to look him up on Wikipedia just to find out why I've never heard of him...

Now, I like Howard Stern, and I'm told the two are marketed together. If I've never heard of Imus, and no one I know has ever talked about his program... that means it was long since time for him to go...

Read it in Variety.

Predicted -- with minimal prescience -- at Likelihood of Success!

My latest, on Imus and Hip Hop Misogyny and mainstream hip hop culture, is now up at Huffington Post.

In the aftermath of the term "nappy headed hoes" a popular refrain has been that Imus merely echoed the misogynist vocabulary popularized by black men in hip hop, so that he should either be exonerated, or at the least, forgiven since he apologized.

I am so ashamed.

Well, shuck my corn and call me a fishbelly-white toothless fool.

As a black man that has worked since 1997 protesting the CONSISTENTLY sexist lyrics in "gangsta rap", I'm not upset that Don Imus was fired. I'm STILL upset that many punk black male rappers STILL talk that "ho" crap. YET:

I disagree 110% with Dean's thoughts against the Rutgers coach and women's basketball team. I've coached high school girls' basketball (black, white, and Latino players). The amount of scorn that was directed at them was unbelievable. They were goddesses of the basketball court yet slugs in high school society. Especially the taller girls. Teenaged boys shied away from them citing with "lovely" reasoning such as: The ho's too tall! The basketball bitches are too big! Those chicks are some sweaty ho's!

Etc... Etc... This was from boys of all colors. Women athletes period (especially basketball and softball players) get "hated" on routinely in high school. Collegiate women's basketball coaches routinely have to build self-esteem as well as coach. You can talk all the "they're not tough enough" jive all you want but you get beat up on everyday, it just isn't THAT easy to shuck off the remarks.

The Rutgers women are some tough chicks. I've watched them all year. Imus' (and his equally boneheaded producer's) remarks probably brought up some nasty feelings. Some things just cut to the core. My own wife, who use to play high school basketball, is a bad mutha. One tough lady. But even she got rankled when she heard Imus and Co. remarks. Her exacts word: I heard that crap in high school and college. Now this prune-faced bastard wants to pile on? I should kick him down some stairs and take his job.

She wasn't jumping for joy when Imus got fired but she was pleased. Feelings surfaced and my wife reacted. That's not a sign of weakness. It's part of being human. We never really know when a word or phrase is just going to get under our skins. "Ho" gets under my skin. Off-handedly calling a woman a "whore" (which is what "ho" is short for those not in the know) is just bad in my opinion.

Last time I checked, women outnumbered real female prostitutes 1,000,000 to 1.

At least not in the sense that the likes of Pat Buchanan, and many others, mean it. "Rappers say it too" is not the issue! (Comments at Likelihood of Success.)