Mr. Don Imus was the first Radio Shock Jock. He has been shocking listeners for years with his funny and not too funny but offensive comments. A lot of people grew up listening to “Imus in the Morning.” He is also well known or his charity work with foundations for children with disabilities and cancer. He was also one of Time Magazine’s most influential people. Most people who know about him would say, “He is a good man that made a terrible mistake.” Don Imus has said many offensive and racist things in the past. What made this “mistake” his last?

Now, this is only supposed to be three minutes long, but to whoever is listening, you better pay attention. I have a lot to say. Who is to say the term “nappy headed hoes” is offensive? Should it be the NAACP or the Women’s Rights Movement? Was it the way Mr. Imus said it, or is just saying it enough for the public to get irate about it? When I was sent the link, I was shocked to hear what he had to say. “It won’t be long until Al Sharpton gets the public involved in this one,” I thought. It was not the “nappy headed” part that bothered me. Calling the Rutgers Girls’ Basketball team “hoes” was what did it for me. Why did it take the Women’s Rights Movement so long to come forward? Maybe they thought it was nothing to get all upset about, for they did not respond until three or four days after the incident.
Ok, let me get to the point… We as black people got some NERVE to be all upset at Don Imus for using the words, nappy headed hoes, when we listen, sing and dance to garbage and junk like that on radio stations almost everyday. “I got hoes in different area codes,” “Is that your bitch,” “Move bitch, get out the way,” “There some hoes in this house,” “Nigga what,” etc… If there was a song and a dance called “Nappy Headed Hoes,” who would be the first ones in the club waiting for that song to come on, so they could get crunk and do it better in a dance battle? We need to check ourselves first before we scrutinize anyone else. Instead of marching in front of the CBS building, March in front of Record labels and radio stations for their part in it too.

Oh, and what’s wrong with being nappy? It is who we are. Just because we may perm our hair, weave it or hide it under a wig, we are still nappy heads. (I also hide my nappy under a wig.) Instead of finding it offensive, we should embrace it. Oh and let’s use the bijou term, kinky. Being nappy should not be a bad thing and we should wear it as our crown to show the world we are Kings and Queens.

I do not think Mr. Imus should have been fired over this situation. He should have only been suspended. Letting Mr. Imus wait for his suspension was another mistake. Instead of waiting to suspend him to see what was going to happen, it was the advertisers who acted first and pulled out. That is what caused the chain of event that directly led to his firing. Hearing him on the radio days after the incident was definitely going to get people more upset. Why was he still on the radio? If he had gotten suspended the day after it happened and apologized, it would have probably blown over by now. WOW! Can you believe it, 40 years gone down the drain for three words? I really hope he does not kill himself. Radio was his life and this one stupid mistake cost him everything. It’s like having unprotected sex once because you didn’t have a condom and “BANG” you are pregnant or caught an STD.

So what’s next? I think we as black people have the power to stop the ignorance of putting ourselves down. No one can use the word Nigger except for black people when they great each other or talk about their friends. The word came from slave owners, meaning UNEDUCATED SLAVE. Why would I want my own people to call me an uneducated slave? I am far from being uneducated, and I am not a slave. I am happy that no other race can use the word, but sad to know my own race still uses it towards each other. Don’t get me wrong, I admit to have used it before playfully, but when it was spoken to me in a derogatory way, it was the most hurtful thing that anyone has ever called me. Some people say that rappers need to use the word to sell records. It is the word they were raised to use. B.S. All I have to say is EMINEM. I don’t know if he uses the word in private, but there was never a time he used it in a song or a record. Every time Eminem’s album is released it is always number one on the charts. We need to stop blaming other people for silly things and take a real hard look at ourselves.

I hope the firing of Don Imus puts a lot of people in check for what they say in the public eye or ear. Let’s face it, we are all racists, but let’s not take advantage of ‘FREEDOM OF SPEECH’ to hurt someone else’s feelings. We cannot do anything about slavery or what slave masters used to call slaves, but we can understand and learn from what our ancestors went through so we can be here today running for president of the United States. About reparations, forget it, it isn’t coming, so get a job, save your money and stop spending foolishly. We also cannot change the way other races view or think about us, but we can change the way we treat ourselves, our race, and our people, so no other race can feel they have the right to put us down, just because they view us to doing it towards each other.
I bet a lot of people did not even know when Mr. Imus made that comment it was on the Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.