Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable
614 E. Manchester Blvd. Suite 204
Inglewood, Cal. 90301
310-672-2542
June 23, 2008
Mr. Farid Suleman
CEO
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation
142 W. 57th St. 11th Fl.
New York 10019
Mr. Suleman:
Don Imus has done it again. On his nationally syndicated morning talk show on Citadel Broadcasting Corporation, Imus in response to a statement from another WABC programmer about Dallas Cowboys defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones legal difficulties asked "What color is he?" When the programmer responded he’s African-American, Imus responded, "Well, there you go. Now we know.”
The response reinforces the worst racial stereotypes of crime and violence about African-Americans. White football and other sports notables have run afoul of the law but there is no known Imus statement linking their misdeeds to their race. But he did it with Jones.
Imus and Citadel Broadcasting must issue an immediate public apology for the racially offensive remark and Citadel must issue a public reprimand of Imus.
Citadel promised that when it brought Imus back to the airwaves it would closely monitor his on-air conduct and statements. If Citadel is true to its word it will issue the apology and a public reprimand of Imus.
Sincerely,
Earl Ofari Hutchinson
President
Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable
CC: Mitch Dolan, WABC Director and President Citadel Broadcast Corp. Station Operations
12 comments:
Excellent response to a repeat offender.
Some of our comments on an earlier violation may be found at:
http://www.eightcitiesmap.com/news_extra2.htm#dk_2
--30--
Editor,
Urban Cartographer Online
When Barack Obama referred to "a typical white person" did anyone demand that he apologize? Most made a joke of it and HE brought it out in the open. I JUST heard news reports of Obama basically claiming racism from ANYONE who criticizes him about anything.
Why is it okay to condemn Imus but NOT Barack Obama?
The problem with Imus is that he KEEPS making the SAME mistake over and over and over!! Apparently, you didn't read what Mr. Hutchinson said. And it is a pity, when Imus is NOT on the air is when his deranged tirades character explodes his full capacity of slanderous remarks.
GOOD POINT!! THANKS!!
Who cares! There has been a series of black athletes doing stupid things. My people (i'm black) need to get over acting hysterically to some things that are basically true across a certain demographic: black athletes.
More effort needs to be made to tell these million dollar athletes to stop f'ing up their lives and acting like 13 year olds. Plain and simple. We do as Black people run to these people rescue? When we acquiesce to their belief system, we are covering up a sickness that happens over and over again. No apology necessary. We should thank Imus for bringing to light which is a problem. Bill Cosby is right. We must start telling the truth lest we destroy ourselves from within. We don't need white to destroy us?
Bill Cosby is right.
Don Imus was wrong!
Please don't confuse cantaloupes with watermelons or apples with grapefruit.
God don't like ugly and ain't too particular about pretty!
--30--
Editor,
Urban Cartographer Online
http://www.eightcitiesmap.com/
I didn't care about (nor know of) Imus before his last comments, and wasn't tripping off him until I heard about his most recent outburst.
When I read it, I laughed. Partly because of the actual comment, but partly because I can't believe this dude is back on the air doing the same thing. Dummy. I definitely agree he is reinforcing stereotypes though, but had I said it, people would have thought it was funny.
Unfortunately, I think too much time is being spent dealing with symptoms instead of actual causes. For example, getting atheletes home training/counseling, etc or building our own independent institutions where Imus won't be on the airwaves. He is just a mouthpiece for white supremacy; not the cause, but an effect. Not the root, but a leaf.
Lastly, I think the fact that he references "color" shows the limits of his thinking and likely that of his listeners. Let's get beyond skin color descriptive characteristics.
We have to keep these folks honest, and Don Imus should be NO exception.
Maybe, he was being "sarcastic", but he either continues to try to re-write the history of his "nappy hos" comment in order to escape further guilt, or he is a closet RACIST who continues to be INFATUATED with a person's skin color! OsiSpeaks[dot]com
If Imus was smart, and he is not, he would tell all of his critics to kiss his "grits" and then go to hell.
Imus was talking about him being a target for being black.
Post a Comment