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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!

Baggy pants that show boxer shorts or thongs would be illegal under a proposed amendment to Atlanta’s indecency laws.The amendment, sponsored by city councilman C.T. Martin, states that sagging pants are an “epidemic” that is becoming a “major concern” around the country.

“Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it’s the in thing,” Martin said Wednesday. “I don’t want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future.”

The proposed ordinance would also bar women from showing the strap of a thong beneath their pants. They would also be prohibited from wearing jogging bras in public or show a bra strap, said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

The proposed ordinance states that “the indecent exposure of his or her undergarments” would be unlawful in a public place. It would go in the same portion of the city code that outlaws sex in public and the exposure or fondling of genitals.

The penalty would be a fine in an amount to be determined, Martin said.

But Seagraves said any legislation that creates a dress code would not survive a court challenge. She said the law could not be enforced in a nondiscriminatory way because it targets something that came out of the black youth culture.

“This is a racial profiling bill that promotes and establishes a framework for an additional type of racial profiling,” Seagraves said.

Martin, who is black, said he plans to hold public hearings and vet the proposal through churches, civil rights groups and neighborhood organizations. The proposal will get its first public airing next Tuesday in the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

“The purpose of the paper is to generate some conversation to see if we can find a solution,” Martin said. “It will be like all the discussions we’ve had around the value of the hip-hop culture. We know there are First Amendment issues … and some will say I’m just trying to put young black men in jail, but it’s going to be fines.”

Atlanta would not be the first city to take on sagging pants.  Earlier this year, the town council in Delcambre, La., passed an ordinance that carries a fine of up to $500 or six months in jail for exposing underwear in public. Several other municipalities and parish governments in Louisiana have enacted similar laws in recent months.  What do you think of the morality police? I thought this was outrageous when it first came out and it still is.  They know it’s going to be detrimental to poor people who can’t afford to pay these fines and then are sentenced to jail and thus continue this vicous cycle of jailing people to feed the prison industrial complex.

Black pregnant women living in urban areas are less likely to get the proper prenatal care than White women, according to a new study that appears in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.Researchers interviewed nearly 300 Black women who were hospitalized in

Research into the physical effects of racism on its victims could help explain a disparity in health across races and reframe racism as a health issue…. Discrimination seems to act as a source of chronic stress the same way that marital conflict or strains at work do, increasing the stress hormone cortisol, raising blood pressure, and suppressing the immune system. High stress also has been linked to overeating or smoking…. Studies have shown that the stress of suppressing the inner turmoil caused by racist encounters can itself lead to ill effects…. Scholars in the field say they are following the same procedures used in studies of depression, anger, and post-traumatic disorder.  Once again research proves what we have always known.  A racist society is a sick society. The victims of racism do not get a fair shake in many ways and it makes them physically sick. This research also adds some validity to the argument for reparations for African Americans (but that’s another topic for another column) and to all the old Black men who told you so years ago while sitting on the porch getting ready for the revolution.

Some of the parents of the students killed during the Virginia Tech University massacre are calling for the promoters of an upcoming benefit concert to wipe Nas’ name off the bill. Apparently they fell Nas’ lyrics are inappropriate.

Vincent J. Bove, who claims to be spokesman for seven of the victims’ families, claims Nas’ inclusion is disrespectful because the rapper’s violent lyrics won’t set a good tone at the event. Bove claims Nas’ lyrics are “indicative of the moral decay in our society that contributes to acts of violence.”

In other words, let’s blame another tragic event on hip hop!!! My thouhts and prayers go out for the victim’s families, friends and the Virginia Tech community, but can this blame it on hip hop movement is getting out of control. Nas is one of the most non-commerical brothers in the game so I’m wandering how do they know what Nas spits about anyway.

Did they go out and cop a cd or a two and disect it from start to finish or did they look his lyrics up on the internet? They obviously don’t know the brother’s style too well. I would bet that Nas would do maybe one or two of his older songs and then hit the crowd with some newly written inspirational pieces.

Y’all know the new rules of the game, if all else fails…blame it on hip hop. Altough the families have concerns school officials have said the overall response to the lineup has been positive, and there are no plans to change it.