A VERY SAD DAY IN RADIO

[MarkLaRoi]

While I certainly agree that standards should be evenly applied across the board no matter what ethnic group a broadcaster belongs to, and no group should be permitted to insult another based on race, this is hardly his first offense. A person would also have to beas dumb as a bag of rocks to not realize his intent behind "nappy-headed hos". Perhaps if he was talking about an all White team you could have some debate as to his intent.

Besides, if he wasn't all in on the joke, why did he laugh along with his producer's "jigaboo" comment? Because he was ok with it. He needed to go and Sharpton needs to join him. Get rid of all the dead weight, ignorant lazy minds clogging up public airwaves.

[sweetdick]

Guys and gals, there is one reason Imus was canned by both NBC and CBS. It's pretty simple and we have all discussed it many times on this board when talking about stations in the Atlanta area.

Wednesday when NBC decided to fire Imus, it happened after 3-4 national advertisers pulled their money from his show.

Today, after a couple more national advertisers decided to pull out, CBS let him go.

According to reports Imus brought in around 15 million dollars a year for those 2 companies. When it became obvious the gravy train had derailed, that was all it took. Nothing Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson had to say had any influence on the decisions made by NBC and CBS. It was their threat to the advertisers that forced those companies to pull their money from his show. At that point it was only a matter of when he would be gone.

Many of you believe that the almighty dollar and its affect on the bottom line is the only reason radio stations exist, so this should come as no surprise to you.

[tigermichal]

Don Imus called these women "nappyheaded", "jiggaboos" All racial slurs used against African American people and he deserved to be fired

[tlyle]

Does Imus have grounds for wrongful termination?  Most major corporations have rules for displining employees which may include termination if those rules are majorly violated.  There is employment case law that you must warn employees before termination occurs.  You must put them on probation and provide some performance improvement plan.  NBC and CBS put him on suspension, but not probation.  Did Imus get any prior warnings for his acts on the air?   Does NBC or CBS have a case for dismissal because of FCC violations? I don't see where the FCC rules were broken.  His contract may have wording indicating firing if certain things occur, but did it happen in this case?

I agree that sponsorship probably caused the trigger to be pulled, but Imus may still come out the winner here.  I am suprised that Imus has not gone to satelite before now.

[Johnny B.]

No he didn't.  And where is the ACLU?

[ArtyBoy]

Let me put on my tinfoil cap and posit this conspiracy theory: what if CBS is behind the fanning of these flames?  Supposedly NBC encouraged Dana Carvey's lampooning of Johnny Carson as a means to help budge Johnny out of his chair in the early `90's.

So maybe CBS says, "Don is closing in on 70.  We can't make bucks off of one of Paul Harvey's peers in morning drive.  Someone fax the news to Al Sharpton that Don said 'nappy-head hos' this morning and see if we can get him out of here."  It's a win-win for CBS: they're sensitive to social issues, and their rid of a guy maybe they wanted to unload anyhow.

[itburnswhenipee]

No he didn't.  And where is the ACLU?

I remember the first time I ever heard the word "hoes."

It was during the early 1980's, and a young comedian named Eddie Murphy appeared on Saturday Night Live and talked about "hoes" during a comedy bit.  The Reverend Al Sharpton immediately condemned Murphy as a racist and after a great national outrage, Murphy apologized and promised never to tell jokes again on Saturday Night Live.  But, that didn't placate the many advertisers who dropped their sponsorships in protest over the obviously bigoted and hateful Eddie Murphy.  NBC later fired Murphy for his racist jokes, and he was never allowed to tell jokes, appear on TV, or make any movies ever again.

[deadman]

Why are there so many black companies that specialize in being nappy? why are there are books by black authors on nappiness? It's not racist. I see just as many white hoes and I seen black hoes. That's not racist either.

The only nappy headed hoes I see now are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (they are Reverend in the true meaning). They pimped out their race as a bunch of victims without talking about the real issues.

[formeraa]

While I am an Imus fan, this country has an UGLY racial problem -- witnessed by all the posts in this thread.  If you're young, check your history books.  Blacks were brought to this country in chains and built much of the country in slavery.  Blacks were regularly lynched and killed by whites (who got NO punishment whatsoever) up until the 60's.  Segregation was rampant through much of the country until the late 60's and early 70's.  This is not ancient history!

So, some 30 years later, Blacks are making some strides but still bump into ugly racial stereotypes.  And the only response is to "Get Over It!" by whites.  Good grief!

[beef]

Sweet Dick nailed it.  And, beyond that, Imus has swam in these murky waters before.  Like Greaseman it eventually caught him.  I've always been proud that "grease' was quite popular in the alleged 'new south', ATLANTA when, IMHO, he was just a very creative, funny, racist in hiding.  One can be many things, bad/good, all in one.  This, to me,  explains to me why Toucher, of the Fred variety, worked here for a bit and seems to be working in AmeriKKKa's worst racist town, and will thrive. Or not.