JL on Imus

My Dad wrote an excellent article on Imus' racist remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team for the Huffington Post. It's a direct assessment of the controversy that gets to the heart of the matter: racism. It is reprinted here and you can see it on HuffPo here.

Imus' Words: Recognizing Real Racism
The Imus controversy is obviously a surrogate for the current discussion of race. In essence, in America the accusation that someone is playing the "race card" is taken much more seriously than any charge of "racism" itself. Racism is considered in some quarters as the bogus slogan of so called "race hustlers." So pervasive has this approach and its variants become, that even "centrists" refuse to recognize real and vicious racism when it is staring them in the face--or at the other end of the telephone.

Imus' references to the Rutgers team as "nappy headed hos" is the real thing, pure racism--and Imus, as intelligent as he can be about many things, including the war--is a racist. The past reference to the estimable Gwen Ifill as a "cleaning lady" is an Imus "classic." His producer, Bernard McGuirk, makes clear his distaste for black people with his constant sneers and asides, his ugly sarcasm and his outright viciousness. Racist talk is, in the end, generally the product of racist minds. (And the "everybody does it" whine, even black people, does not make Imus and McGuirk's racism any less immoral.)
While trying to make sense of this incident, here are four points to keep in mind:

1. For some reason, people who make no secret of the fact that they despise Al Sharpton feel that they are doing something meaningful by engaging with him at times of crisis on racial issues. In going to him, they are seeking out someone who they think is disliked by large portions of the white audience, which they think puts them at an advantage. In the long run it doesn't. But instead of this knee jerk move, how about for once agreeing to talk to a professional news person like Tavis Smiley, an exceptional broadcaster, Errol Lewis of the New York Daily News, a terrific writer and broadcaster, the under appreciated Bob Herbert of the New York Times, or for that matter, Clarence Page, who challenged Imus on race many years ago, and was never heard from again on his airwaves. (Tom Oliphant, perhaps Mr. Page was more deserving of your solidarity than Imus is.) The assumption that the only place one has to go to make "media peace" is with Sharpton is in its own way subtly racist. And the MSM encourages it.

2. There is nothing like authentic truth tellers to cut across media gamesmanship. In this case, the eloquence of the Rutgers teammates and coach were so refreshingly genuine and heartfelt--and morally clear-- that it should shame not only Imus but his high profile defenders. This was a nasty, bullying attack by an incredibly powerful broadcaster on these excellent young women who showed more class and grace than anyone else in this saga.

3. I remain astounded by the defenses of Imus' racism by people who obviously know better, starting with the usually excellent Tom Oliphant, as well as Howard Fineman (who seemed to lose sight of the fact that this is a moral issue, not a damage control, tactical issue.). And by the way, Imus is not being attacked for the good things he has done, which appear to be numerous, but for his racism, which appears to be pervasive. Al Roker's response today is so much more forthright and direct than anything coming from Imus' gang.

4. Finally, its hard to believe that much of the media is trivializing the whole thing by going with the "Can Imus Hang On" (CNN) line. I have no idea if he will lose his job or not. And I have no interest in the armchair issue of what strategy and media management techniques he should use next. I do know that if he and McGuirk keep their jobs, not one of the friends of Imus should go on his show again without taking him on relentlessly on the issue of his racism--and this should include Doris Kearns Goodwin, Frank Rich, Michael Beschloss, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Kerry, Craig Crawford, Joe LIeberman, Tom Friedman and all the rest. Because it is perfectly clear that he and McGuirk don't get it yet and I suspect (although I can't know) that they don't really want to.

Jon Landau,

Former rock critic and current artist manager

Imus' original comments:


The original lame apology:


With Al Sharpton:


On the Today Show:


Al Roker's response.