Chapy's Corner
John Donald Imus: What ws forgotten-Part One
Dr. Eric Anthony Joseph
Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: Opinion
My dear Langstonites, riddle me this for part one of my 196th edition of Chapy's Corner: What does the "death" of Nobel peace price recipient Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the "mouth" of former syndicated talk show host John Donald Imus have in common? Give up? The answer is the date of April 4!
It was April 4, 1968 that King was assassinated on the upstairs balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. When this historic event happened and the nation mourned, Imus was a 27-year-old radio disk jockey for KUTY and KJOY, respectively, in Palmdale and Stockton, Calif.
However, on April 4, 2007 some 39 years later, a date America was suppose to reflect on the life and death of King, who was referred to as "the conscious of America" and "an ambassador to bringing diverse people together," we found ourselves discussing the racist comments made by Don Imus, which he jokingly bellowed a day after the women's NCAA basketball championship game.
"Mr. Imus has stolen a moment of pure grace from us," the captain of the Rutgers women's basketball team said, responding to the uproar over the radio host's description of the student-athlete players as "nappy-headed hoes," "hard-core hoes," "rough," "jigaboos vs. wannabees," and "looking like the Toronto Raptors NBA men's team."
Also involved in making these racist and sexist comments were executive producer Bernard McGuirk and sports announcer Sid Rosenberg, who was filling in for sportscaster Chris Carlin. All three involved were fired.
Unfortunately, this is what was forgotten by the media pundits concerning the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers (34-3 record). First, that the Lady Vols basketball star Miss Candace Parker was named the prestigious John Robert Wooden Player of the Year. Only a sophomore, she became the youngest female to earn the prestigious honor. The 6-foot-4 Parker averaged 19.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots per game this season. She was named the SEC Player of the Years, the Basketball Writer's Association Player of the Year, and was the youngest person to ever win the State Farm Wade Trophy Player of the Year. On April 3 she became the fifth Lady Vol to earn the NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player award after leading the team to its seventh national championship after a nine year drought with a convincing 59 to 46 victory over young Rutgers University (NJ) in Cleveland, Ohio.
It was April 4, 1968 that King was assassinated on the upstairs balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. When this historic event happened and the nation mourned, Imus was a 27-year-old radio disk jockey for KUTY and KJOY, respectively, in Palmdale and Stockton, Calif.
However, on April 4, 2007 some 39 years later, a date America was suppose to reflect on the life and death of King, who was referred to as "the conscious of America" and "an ambassador to bringing diverse people together," we found ourselves discussing the racist comments made by Don Imus, which he jokingly bellowed a day after the women's NCAA basketball championship game.
"Mr. Imus has stolen a moment of pure grace from us," the captain of the Rutgers women's basketball team said, responding to the uproar over the radio host's description of the student-athlete players as "nappy-headed hoes," "hard-core hoes," "rough," "jigaboos vs. wannabees," and "looking like the Toronto Raptors NBA men's team."
Also involved in making these racist and sexist comments were executive producer Bernard McGuirk and sports announcer Sid Rosenberg, who was filling in for sportscaster Chris Carlin. All three involved were fired.
Unfortunately, this is what was forgotten by the media pundits concerning the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers (34-3 record). First, that the Lady Vols basketball star Miss Candace Parker was named the prestigious John Robert Wooden Player of the Year. Only a sophomore, she became the youngest female to earn the prestigious honor. The 6-foot-4 Parker averaged 19.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots per game this season. She was named the SEC Player of the Years, the Basketball Writer's Association Player of the Year, and was the youngest person to ever win the State Farm Wade Trophy Player of the Year. On April 3 she became the fifth Lady Vol to earn the NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player award after leading the team to its seventh national championship after a nine year drought with a convincing 59 to 46 victory over young Rutgers University (NJ) in Cleveland, Ohio.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Peter
posted 4/20/07 @ 5:25 AM CST
This is all about the First Amendment. Let's not follow the gov't down the path of censorship. After all, censorship is becoming America's favorite past-time. (Continued…)
Post a Comment