Don Imus

I find it strange that in 2007 a man, regardless of the color of his skin, speaking on the radio would say the things Don Imus did about the Rutgers women's basketball team. the fact that he is White only makes it a bigger issue. I wonder, as have several others, what if a male rapper had made the same comments?

My wife and I discussed this today. She thinks that the youth of today have gotten over the race issues with each other. Black kids, white kids, asian kids, gay kids, they all see each other as just kids. Maybe that is true, but let someone's parent or uncle or teacher use the same expression and suddenly they are a racist, bigot,... I don't condone removing words from our language, that would be silly to even try. Though I suspect the politician would waste valuable taxpayers dollars and time discussing the issue. But if our world has gotten so politically correct that we can not say people are short, fat or mentally retarded, why would a public figure consider saying anything that controversial. Is Don Imus an idiot? Of course not, he is a radio guy shaking things up for ratings. If not for the political correctness police, he would still be ranting everyday. Even Howard Stern knows which boundaries not to cross.

As for the rappers, it is their musical expression. Plus they are primarily black, thus using racial slurs towards each other or as part of their music is acceptable. I wonder if Don Imus would have gotten fired for calling George Bush "just another honkie." Billy Packer got a little heat over using a homophobic phrase, White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen used a gay label for Chicago Sportswriter Jay Mariotti.

So what words can we not use anymore, besides the obvious ones? In DC a few years ago there was trouble for the word niggardly, because people are uneducated. Soon we will not be able to say that someone who is happy is gay, afraid it will be misinterpreted.