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Imus is an idiot.

Don Imus is back in the news with another racially tinged remark that he is trying to pass off as a “misunderstanding” of his words. The quote and what led up to it is below:

Wolf: “Defensive back Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys. Here’s a guy suspended all of 2007 following a shooting in a Vegas night club.”
Imus: “Well, stuff happens. You’re in a night club, for God’s sake. What do you think’s gonna happen in a night club? People are drinking and doing drugs, there are women there, and people have guns. So, there, go ahead.”

Wolf: “He’s also been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.”

Imus:”What color is he?”

Wolf:”He’s African-American.”

Imus: “Well, there you go. Now we know.”

Imus is now trying to get out in front of the racist remark by stating that Jones was being picked on because he’s black. Bovine fecal matter (I love that saying from the television judge from Texas… I can’t remember his name)!

Those of us who know and love Black people and are familiar with Jones’ story know that “Pacman,” as he is nicknamed, is an idiot. He likes going to strip clubs with his friends who come from the same neighborhood in which Jones grew up, and he most likely wants to keep doing the things that they do, and he used to be able to do anonymously. Jones is an idiot because he is blessed with the talent to garner him a career that affords him wealth and opportunity—he is choosing to blow all of that by putting himself in horrible situations.

I am not making excuses for Jones. He’s been in the wrong on more than one occasion, and I hope and pray that he gets it together. This is about Imus.

The same people that berate Jones for getting too many chances should berate Imus’ parent company for allowing this man back on the air. He called Black women form a prestigious university, who are elite athletes competing at the height of their sport’s level of competition, “nappy headed hoes.” Now he states—not implies, but rather states as a matter of fact—that Jones has been arrested six times since coming into the NFL because he’s Black and that is what happens to Black people! That is outrageous, and Imus needs to be fired, and never allowed back on the air on any radio station that intends to advertise products to be sold to African Americans (that encompasses nearly every radio station in the nation).

Imus’ statement of fact as he sees it goes out across the airwaves to millions of people—and millions heard his ridiculous assertion. While statistics indicate the fact that I as a Black man am more likely to be arrested by virtue of my race; while I am more likely to be imprisoned because of the color of my skin—these are all statistical probabilities! I am blessed with freedom of choice and have never been arrested! Millions of other upstanding, responsible educated, gainfully employed, socially and politically active Black men can make the same claim. That is the norm; not Imus’ insipid assertion that the reason why Jones has done the things that he has done and been arrested for it, is because he is Black. Therein lies the difference, and we get that Don Imus. I like what Star Jones wrote relating to Imus’ insult to the women of the Rutgers University Basketball team (and by extension all Black women), she told Imus not to “insult my intelligence while you insult me!”

He claims that he was saying that Jones was being picked on because of the color of his skin. He wants me to believe that his was a statement about police profiling, and unequal treatment of African Americans by the US justice system. Don’t insult my intelligence while insulting me, Imus. I know the difference and I know better. You’re an old man who doesn’t particularly care for people who look like me. That’s fine. That is your right, and I do not begrudge you that. You have the right to make your idiotic rants. Thankfully I have the right to call you what you are… a racist relic. And I have the right to encourage your employer and the people who pay them to sell their products, to no longer allow you to insult paying customers—Black listeners of that radio station.

Jones can go to strip clubs, and he can get into trouble if he chooses—he must take personal responsibility for his actions and lie in the bed that he has made for himself. Likewise Imus, you can make your Klan-like verbal defecations as much as you want, but you too must face the music and live with the consequences. I hope that those consequences see you off the air!

Jones was given a second chance. He should take advantage of it, and I hope he does. You have been given yours, and have used it to further insult my community. Game over. You’re outta here!