Shaun Powell's column in Newsday:

Shaun Powell
SPORTS COLUMNIST

It's more than just Imus
April 12, 2007

In retrospect, outraged people shouldn't have united and screamed "blank you" to Don Imus the last few days. No, instead, we should've stuck out our hand and said, "Thank you."

We should feel indebted to a shriveled, unfunny, insensitive frog for being so ignorant that he actually did us all a favor. He woke society the hell up. He grabbed it by the throat, shook hard and ordered us to take a long, critical look at ourselves and the mess we've made and ignored for much too long. He made us examine the culture and the characters we've created for ourselves, our impressionable young people and our future.

Had Imus not called a bunch of proud and innocent young women "nappy-headed hos," would we be as ashamed of what we see as we are today?

Or, to quote Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer: "Have we really lost our moral fiber?"

And our minds as well?

I'm not sure if the last few days will serve as a watershed moment for this MTV, middle-finger, screw-you generation. Probably not, according to my hunch. A short time from now, the hysteria will turn to vapor, folks will settle back into their routines, somebody will pump up the volume on the latest poison produced by hip-hop while Al Sharpton and the other racial ambulance chasers will find other guilt-ridden white folks to shake for fame and cash. In five minutes, the entire episode of Imus and his strange idea of humor will be older than his hairstyle. Lessons learned will be lessons forgotten.

I wish I were wrong about that last part. But I doubt it, because any minute now, black people will resume calling themselves bitches and hos and the N-word and in the ultimate sign of hypocrisy, neither Rutgers nor anyone else will call a news conference about that.

Because when we really get to the root of the problem, this isn't about Imus. This is about a culture we -- meaning black folks -- created and condoned and packaged for white power brokers to sell and shock jocks like Imus to exploit. Can we talk?

Tell me: Where did an old white guy like Imus learn the word "ho"?

Was that always part of his vocabulary? Or did he borrow it from Jay-Z and Dave Chappelle and Snoop Dogg?

What really disappointed me about that exhausting Rutgers news conference, which was slyly used as a recruiting pitch by Stringer, was the absence of the truth and the lack of backbone and courage. Black women had the perfect opportunity to lash out at their most dangerous oppressors -- black men -- and yet they kept the focus on a white guy.

It was a tremendous letdown for me, personally and professionally. I wanted Stringer, and especially her players, many of whom listen to rap and hip-hop, to take Nelly to task. Or BET. Or MTV. Or the gangsta culture that is suffocating our kids. They had the ear and eye of the nation trained upon them, and yet these women didn't get to the point and the root of the matter. They danced around it, and I guess I should've known better, because black people still refuse to lash out against those black people who are doing harm to us all.

Honestly, I wasn't holding my breath for Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, a pair of phony and self-appointed leaders, because they have their agendas and financial stakes. I was hoping 10 young women, who have nothing on the line, who are members of a young culture, would train their attention to within the race, name names and say enough is enough. But they didn't, and I was crushed.

You should walk around the playground and the elementary and high schools today and listen to how young black people speak to each other, treat each other and tease each other. You'd be ashamed. Next, sample some of their CDs and look at the video games they're playing. And while you're at it, blame yourself for funding this garbage, for allowing your kids to support these companies and for not taking a stand against it or the so-called artists making it happen.

Black folks, for whatever reason, can be their own worst enemy. The last several days, the media had us believe it was Don Imus. But deep down, we know better.

Imus, the "n" word, and freedom of speech

Imus did it. The radio personality said a word that people who are devoid of color should never say.

No, not that 'N' word, but another.

"Nappy" is one of those words that originally had a meaning devoid of race. Of course, this is no longer the case. Nappy now signifies only the hair of a black, or more specifically, African-American person.

I point to the literally hundreds of rap and hip-hop songs that reference “nappy hair,” “nappy-headed,” and even, yes, believe it or not, “nappy-headed hos.”

Let’s be realistic here. The fact that he insulted a whole basketball team is secondary to the fact that the phrase referenced a hair texture common in (but not exclusively common in, mind you) black people.

And the fact that he called them “hos?” Poor taste, indeed. An ill-timed joke, yes. But then again, perhaps Imus was doing nothing more than simply using a phrase that is, in every sense of the word, a pop-cultural reference?

Who didn’t walk around in the 90’s spouting “Word” in jest? Or how about you women who incessantly said to one another, “Hey, Girlfriend!” What about "player hater?"

Nappy-head ho. Sure, it’s an insult. Imus was right to apologize.

But is he racist, or was the insult meant in a racist way?

I don’t believe so.

Suppose it had been a black sports jock who had called the team that. Would it be OK? Not as bad?

Would it be OK simply because he shares the same skin color?

I’m not asking these questions in jest. I want real answers here. In my opinion, it’s either wrong both ways, or not at all.

And then we have Al Sharpton calling Imus racist. Ha! Here’s a rat that only pops its head out when an opportunity arises to garner attention. The sooner he and Jesse Jackson leave the planet, the sooner we will all finally “get along.”

Imus, what you said was insensitive. I blame not the Rutgers team for taking offense to your remarks.

But, to everyone else still sitting around in disbelief at what he said, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for chipping away at my, and everyone else’s, freedom to say what we want so say. Because you have been heavily indoctrinated into the world of sensitivity and political correctness, I have no doubt that, if we were to have it your way, there will come a day when any and all insults (real and insinuated) result in immediate jail time.

What a wonderful world that will be!