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Saturday, April 07, 2007

Not law but shocking - Don Imus' comments about the Rudgers' women's basketball team members

Al Campanis, born in 1916, is, according to Wikipedia (visited 4/7/07) "most famous for his position as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1968 to 1987, from which he was fired as a result of a high-profile incident in which he made racially insensitive remarks during a live interview on April 6, 1987."

Campanis' infamous remarks took place on the late-night ABC News program Nightline, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's Major League Baseball debut (April 15, 1947). Campanis, who had played alongside Robinson and was known for being close to him, was being interviewed about the subject. Nightline anchorman Ted Koppel asked him why, at the time, there had been few black managers and no black general managers in Major League Baseball. Campanis' reply was that blacks "may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager" for these positions. Elsewhere in the interview he said that blacks are often poor swimmers "because they don't have the buoyancy." Koppel says he gave Campanis several opportunities to clarify ("Do you really believe that?") or back down on his remarks but Campanis dug himself in deeper with his replies. A protest erupted the next morning and he resigned two days later.
That was in 1987.

Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, born in 1919, was, according to Wikipedia (visited 4/7/07), a sports commentator. From the entry:

On January 16, 1988, he was fired by the CBS network (where he was a contributor to the NFL Today program since 1976) after commenting to a reporter that African Americans were naturally superior athletes because they had been bred to produce stronger offspring during slavery: [According to Snyder] "During the slave period, the slave owner would breed his big black with his big woman so that he would have a big black kid—that's where it all started."
That was in 1988.

At the time, I thought both sets of comments were appalling, but also recognized that they were made by men who grew up in different times.

Today , in the year 2007, the NY Times has a long report on comments of Don Imus made last Wednesday morning. Imus was born in 1940. He prides himself on being part of today's scene. Here, from the Times, is what he said:

On Wednesday morning, Don Imus called the students who play for the Rutgers University women’s basketball team a bunch of “nappy-headed ho’s.”

Even for Mr. Imus, a nationally syndicated radio host who knows his way around an insult, it was a shocking remark, one that seemed to impugn both the physical and moral characteristics of a team composed mostly of black players.

What followed was a familiar dance for Mr. Imus and the media companies that profit from his ability to shock his way to big audiences: outrage, indignation and, eventually, the expression of deep regret.

And so on Thursday, Mr. Imus wondered aloud on his show what the big deal was, saying people should not be offended by “some idiot comment meant to be amusing.” * * *

Mr. Imus’s radio show is idiosyncratic in tone, ranging from thoughtful discussions of politics to the kind of coarse talk that would turn heads in a locker room.

“That’s some rough girls from Rutgers,” Mr. Imus said on Wednesday. “Man, they got tattoos ...” The program’s executive producer, Bernard McGuirk, agreed: “Some hardcore ho’s,” he said. Imus continued, “That’s some nappy-headed ho’s there, I’m going to tell you that.”

Later in the show, Mr. McGuirk characterized the women’s collegiate basketball championship Tuesday night, between Rutgers and the University of Tennessee, as “the Jigaboos versus the Wannabes.”

In a joint statement, Myles Brand, the president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and Richard L. McCormick, the president of Rutgers, said Mr. Imus’s attempt at humor represented an assault on human dignity. “The N.C.A.A. and Rutgers University are offended by the insults on MSNBC’s Don Imus program toward the 10 young women on the Rutgers basketball team,” they said. “It is unconscionable that anyone would use the airways to utter such disregard for the dignity of human beings who have accomplished much and deserve great credit. It is appropriate that Mr. Imus and MSNBC have apologized.”

But for Bryan Monroe, the president of the National Association of Black Journalists and the editor of Ebony and Jet magazines, Mr. Imus’s apology was not enough and called on journalists to boycott the show. “It was stunning, insulting and unbelievable that he went there,” Mr. Monroe said. “But his apology was too little, too late. No matter how contrite, his words hurt so many so deeply that after 40 years in the radio business, it is time for him to go.”

See also this from MediaMatters.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 7, 2007 02:05 PM
Posted to General News