Imus Gets the Boot - For or Against?

[The City Manager]

Don Imus' racist remarks cost him his TV gig - and he's in danger of losing his long-running radio show as well.

Agree or Disagree?

[Black Angel]

As a black woman, I admit that I took a slight offense to Imus' remarks.. not because he was white, but to the remark in general.

I take offense to it when rap and hip hop "artists" use the same term in their lyrics. however, I think the only reason there was such an uproar about it was because Imus is white. Otherwise, "artists" such as 50 Cent, Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, and anyone else should be out of a job as soon as they said it.

It is for this reason that I don't listen to rap, or hip hop, past the 80's and early 90's. If you look back and listen to the music then, and compare it to now, you'll notice a MAJOR difference.

While they were in the right for firing Imus, (in the sense that he should have utilized better judgement as a public figure) I say that they should have gone after anyone else who has ever said it and worse in their lyrics. If these "artists" cannot convey their message without the use of racial epithets, expletives, and other equally derisive terms, then that all the more proves that they are not artists, and should find another career.

If you don't want other people to use those terms, then don't use it yourself. Plain and simple.

[The City Manager]

Welcome to the Forum. I share your feelings and agree with much of what you said.

I'm a white male of a mixed ethnic background. I've done the family tree and pretty much, if you can think of a race, class, or type, it's in there someplace. I'm proud of every bit of it. I'm 58-years-old and music... all types of music, is a big part of my life. My generation grew up with Motown, and I still love to dance to it. I've seen the change in the lyrics, and it's troubling.

When African-American music producers and recording company executives defend their lyrics during TV interviews, they often say the music is created for young white males who are enamored by the urban ghetto lifestyle, and they want to "play gansta" through the music. While that may be true to a certain extent, I've been near SUVs and boom boxes, and black people aren't listening Montovani and Henri Mancini. The music and rap are created for blacks, and whites are borrowing it.

Don Imus offended me on a number of levels, but I have to confess, I was once a fan.

It took a while to get it. Like lots of other radio and TV programs that struggle for ratings (I've worked in radio and TV) they were always reaching for something shocking and controversial. It was a "put-on" show where anything and everything was a joke -- especially with regard to subjects others would not dare touch.

Sometimes I cringed when Imus and his buffoon buddies crossed the line, but what they said would have people talking about it later, and that was the objective. I don't believe all of the white males on that show always thought or felt the way they said they did. The point was to gather listeners (and viewers) and provocation was the method.

I was still occasionally watching him on MSNBC in the mornings when the incident occurred, but I'd already lost my sense of devotion. Eventually, I grew tired of the insults, the gutter language, the offensive mental imagery, and the belittling of others... any and all others. The program made me feel bad, and I wanted to feel good.

But, I would have fired Imus long before the straw that broke the camel's back incident. I used to work with a guy who had something bad to say about every ethnic group. He didn't like women, and he had some complaint about every individual. Eventually, I came to realize that when I wasn't around, he was probably talking about me, too.

Language and ideas can be hurtful. And, as I grow older, I sympathize more and more with all of people who have suffered because of the ignorance of the majority.

Nice avatar, by the way.

[Black Angel]

Thank you for the compliment, I understand what you are saying about ethnicity, If my fiance and I had children, they'd be like 6 or 7 all rolled into one lol. Myself being a combination of Native American, (both sides, my paternal grand father says that we are at least 1/3 native american) Irish, (both sides) Trinidadian (my maternal great grandmother's great grandfather was a slave from Trinidad) and Black, and he being a mixture of Italian, (his father) Spanish, (his paternal grandmother) Black, (his mother, and she has also said that she has ancestors from Egypt) but, I say that I am Black, just to avoid having to write down everything lol..

I think that if you have to resort to insults to get your point across, then it really doesn't say much about you as a person. I mean really, you have kids out here listening to this crap thinking that it is cool to refer to your mother, and women in general as bitches, hoes, etc, and your friends as niggers.

They walk around toting guns, and like you said, think that they are gangstas. Here is my thing, if you think that you are tough enough to carry around a gun, then why don't you go to Iraq? I think that all of the great heroes, who had died for racial equality, are turning in their graves. I often think about what they'd say if they were still around.

However not all Blacks are into this crap, but unfortunately the majority seems to be, and as always, whether we like it or not, it is they who speak for us. Because everyone else would rather believe that we [blacks] are all the same, because they are too lazy to bother taking the time to get to know us, and see that we are all different..

Personally, I've listened to a lot of different music, I've listened to Rock, (I love Linkin Park, and Evanescence) Alternative (I have a lot of songs, and I admit that I have a hard time differentiating it from rock) J-pop, 80's (I love it and it as well as early 90's is my second favorite) Smooth Jazz, Pop, Dance, Freestyle, Electronica, Ambient Chill, Old school R &B and Rap like Luther Vandross, New Edition, and Whodini. I pretty much like anything that I think sounds good, and it is why I like some Classical, but no one would ever really know that because since I am Black, then that means that I am genetically pre-determined to like Rap and Hip-Hop, and next to nothing else.

I honestly think that some of the whites who listen to rap and hip hop, and emulate the gangsta style, are not doing it because they are trying to make fun of those that do it, but because they want fit in, just like when they use the same terms these black kids do when refering to their friends.

It just seems like a lot of these young blacks are trying to undo everything that Dr. King, Rosa Parks and Malcolm X stood for.

[The City Manager]

It's always nice to make new friends, and nicer still when you have a lot in common.

I don't have any indication of it, but I've always thought there was a Native American component somewhere in my genealogy. I've always felt close to the Earth. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking.

There used to be a Smooth Jazz station in the city where I live, and it was all I ever listened to. But, they caved in to the ratings system, and now they are just another of the dozens and dozens of stations all playing the same thing.

I feel so bad about Luther; I still can't believe he's gone. Not a day goes by that I don't listen to one of his songs on the personal CDs I've burned.

I don't miss Imus.

[Black Angel]

There's always satellite, and shoutcast..

I listen to SmoothChoice on winamp's shoutcast stream.

Here in N.Y.C. we have CD101.9 which also serves N.J. but, there is a sister site in Dallas, where my dad lives.

[The City Manager]

7236 said:

There's always satellite, and shoutcast. I listen to SmoothChoice on winamp's shoutcast stream. Here in N.Y.C. we have CD101.9 which also serves N.J. but, there is a sister site in Dallas, where my dad lives.

Thanks for the info. I listened to SmoothChoice test streaming over Windows Media Player, but it kept dropping out and buffering over and over. My kind of music, though.

I found a CD101.9 web site, but I was disappointed there was no way to listen. I liked the idea that they showed a play list. Again, my kind of music.

I used to listen to various Smooth Jazz stations online, but I'm not always in front of the computer. Sky.fm is pretty good online.

There's a college radio station that plays jazz nearby, but it's older styles, and some of it is way out there -- the sort of thing I imagine that only other jazz musicians can appreciate.

I'll keep looking. Thanks.

[Black Angel]

I didn't even know windows media player had streaming radio.. but winamp, has i think 3 or 4 different channels on shoutcast dedicated to jazz.. they've also other genres, and streaming shoutcast tv too.

Your best bet might be to get winamp winamp.com/ the smooth choice stream almost never drops, and so it plays seamlessly. I usually get the full, but when installing I uncheck the option for the 50 free mp3's..

By the way, thank you for joining my forum, I hope you enjoy your stay there, there are a lot of topics, and things to do there, like watch videos and play games etc..