Did Don Imus Go Too Far (Again) With His Latest Comments?

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by onlydarksets

Yeah, they tried letting the market "sort it out" for hundreds (thousands?) of years, and it resulted in slavery until the governments stepped in to abolish it.

No it was people of these nation that that took up arms and died to end slavery.

[Monkeydad]

Oh and with your slew of political links...Clinton's "sexism" is also largely media-generated with a side of dirty politics.

I couldn't vote for her because of her record and corruption. What parts are in her pants-suit don't matter to me and I'll bet it doesn't to the FAR majority of voters. There are plenty of women I could cast a vote for, but she's not one of them.

Same goes with Obama. I can vote for a black man, just not THAT black man. When I listen to him, I don't hear a person of color, I hear someone I don't agree with. But yeah, I'm a racist, sexist, bigotted homophobe because I oppose him and others in his party! I'm also a bitter Pennsylvanian who clings to my guns and Bible.

I do not believe that racism or sexism are still large problems in this nation. They would be pretty much non-existent if the media and politicians wouldn't manufacture these controversies for their own gain. Also, if we would finally shut up those who claim they're fighting racism like Jackson, Sharpton, the NAACP, the ACLU, plus stopped using laws that require us to examine and discriminate based on race (affirmative action, NFL coaching interviews, etc.), we'd find that most people are looked at for their own merits and actions, not by the color of their skin. Constantly emphasizing race, even if intentions are good, not only prolongs and puts racism on life support, but it creates more tension. If we'd stop doing things that put the issue in our minds, I bet the far majority of us would live our lives day-to-day looking at people without even thinking about their skin color. Unity parades and diversity events do not unify, they point out our differences and "celebrate" why our cultures are not the same. Rather than maintaining our own African, Hispanic, whatever cultures, we should all realize we're Americans together and that in itself is its own culture. Sure, it's OK to be proud of where your family came from, but why continue to use it to separate yourself from the rest of society? Instead of preaching diversity and creating racial and cultural divides, we should just live together.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Buster

Unity parades and diversity events do not unify, they point out our differences and "celebrate" why our cultures are not the same. Rather than maintaining our own African, Hispanic, whatever cultures, we should all realize we're Americans together and that in itself is its own culture. Sure, it's OK to be proud of where your family came from, but why continue to use it to separate yourself from the rest of society? Instead of preaching diversity and creating racial and cultural divides, we should just live together.

Point taken. But, there's a fine line between saying we should celebrate our commonalities and saying, "adopt my culture or hit the road." The former is cool and the latter is not.

Many of the people who get so up in arms about people celebrating their heritage (i.e., the "der takin our jobs" crowd) are the very same people who turn around and get pissed because people do not look, act, or talk like your stereotypical American. In other words, "it's okay to celebrate your heritage, so long as your heritage is similar/identical to mine." Most of them don't think twice about St. Patty's day or Christmas, but chuckle when they hear Kwanza. That kind of narrow-minded mental retardation is laughable and sad.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Buster

Oh and with your slew of political links...Clinton's "sexism" is also largely media-generated with a side of dirty politics.

I couldn't vote for her because of her record and corruption. What parts are in her pants-suit don't matter to me and I'll bet it doesn't to the FAR majority of voters. There are plenty of women I could cast a vote for, but she's not one of them.

Same goes with Obama. I can vote for a black man, just not THAT black man. When I listen to him, I don't hear a person of color, I hear someone I don't agree with. But yeah, I'm a racist, sexist, bigotted homophobe because I oppose him and others in his party! I'm also a bitter Pennsylvanian who clings to my guns and Bible.

I do not believe that racism or sexism are still large problems in this nation. They would be pretty much non-existent if the media and politicians wouldn't manufacture these controversies for their own gain. Also, if we would finally shut up those who claim they're fighting racism like Jackson, Sharpton, the NAACP, the ACLU, plus stopped using laws that require us to examine and discriminate based on race (affirmative action, NFL coaching interviews, etc.), we'd find that most people are looked at for their own merits and actions, not by the color of their skin. Constantly emphasizing race, even if intentions are good, not only prolongs and puts racism on life support, but it creates more tension. If we'd stop doing things that put the issue in our minds, I bet the far majority of us would live our lives day-to-day looking at people without even thinking about their skin color. Unity parades and diversity events do not unify, they point out our differences and "celebrate" why our cultures are not the same. Rather than maintaining our own African, Hispanic, whatever cultures, we should all realize we're Americans together and that in itself is its own culture. Sure, it's OK to be proud of where your family came from, but why continue to use it to separate yourself from the rest of society? Instead of preaching diversity and creating racial and cultural divides, we should just live together.

I wish the numbers were on your side.

Overall, 51 percent call the current state of race relations "excellent" or "good," about the same as said so five years ago. That is a relative thaw from more negative ratings in the 1990s, but the gap between whites and blacks on the issue is now the widest it has been in polls dating to early 1992.

More than six in 10 African Americans now rate race relations as "not so good" or "poor," while 53 percent of whites hold more positive views. Opinions are also divided along racial lines, though less so, on whether blacks face discrimination. There is more similarity on feelings of personal racial prejudice: Thirty percent of whites and 34 percent of blacks admit such sentiments.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by saden1

I wish the numbers were on your side.

Thats because all the people like Al Sharpton the national news etc... keep telling us that race relations are poor.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Thats because all the people like Al Sharpton the national news etc... keep telling us that race relations are poor.

How do you know that race relations are poor because of the media and people like Sharpton? That's pretty amazing that you are able to enter the minds of hundreds of millions, determine whether they are racist and if so why, and then reach some universal conclusion about the existence/cause of problematic race relations.

Anecdotally, I have seen a fair amount of racism from whites, blacks, asians, latinos, etc. My girlfriend's family is from the South and whenever I go to visit them, I am astounded by how bad the racism is (I have many interesting/sad stories to share). I currently live in Wisconsin and many people here hate immigrants and Native Americans quite openly. Part of my family is Korean and they openly bash Chinese and Japanese people. Another part of my family is from California, and the way they talk about latinos is disgusting.

Neighborhoods are highly segregated, interracial couples still encounter problems (I know from my own experiences), groups of friends are usually from one racial group, etc. In my experience, we've come an awfully long way since the 1950s, but we've still got a ways to go.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Thats because all the people like Al Sharpton the national news etc... keep telling us that race relations are poor.

Al Sharpton rubs a lot of people the wrong way including myself but to say that he is responsible for racial tension is a stretch. If people are taking their queues from people like him and the media to determine how they should feel with respect to race relations god help us.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by saden1

Al Sharpton rubs a lot of people the wrong way including myself but to say that he is responsible for racial tension is a stretch. If people are taking their queues from people like him and the media to determine how they should feel with respect to race relations god help us.

No he and others are on the news allways preaching about how bad it is and such. If you hear something enough then people tend to believe it. I think if you asked people how they feel personaly abou race relations it would be better then if you asked how they think race relations are in the US in general. Its like everyone hates congress but when asked they like their congressman.

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by Buster

Oh and with your slew of political links...Clinton's "sexism" is also largely media-generated with a side of dirty politics.

As I recall your original argument was that minorities like Al Sharpton drum up controversy in the media around racial issues, and that similar woman's groups don't exist to protest the sexism of Howard Stern (who also gets away with indulging in a level of racism that dwarfs Imus's but whatever) or at least that the media doesn't take up these issues. I was pointing out that, at a time when sexism in America has been one of the dominant news stories for the last two months, drummed up and insisted upon by angry woman's groups, it's perhaps not so accurate to suggest that minorities are more actively charging discrimination in the media than woman. It's simply not true right now.

You can't have it both ways. You can't boycott the liberal media and then make sweeping arguments about this same media, because you run the risk of looking like you don't know what you are talking about.

[jsarno]

here is an interesting article on this:
ClayNation: It's difficult to stomach Pacman being upset - SPiN - CBSSports.com The Lighter Side of Sports