Saturday, April 21, 2007

Don Imus



Once again, the issue of race has been re-ignited.

And, once again, women, and certainly black women, are defending their right to "be".

When radio shock jock Don Imus referred to members of the Rutgers Women's Basketball team as "nappy-headed hos", I was disgusted but not surprised.

The first time I was ever called the N-word, it was by a guy in the gym that was angry because I was using a piece of equipment that he wanted to get on. The last time, was 4 years ago.

Both times, (and the 2-3 times in between) I wondered what point they were trying to get across.

The answer was, by virtue of being born with this color, they thought of me as inferior.

As an African-American woman, I have experienced the pains of racism and sexism. They are with me everyday as I make my way through a society that constantly tells women, they are not as worthy as a man, and as a black woman who has been told that her brown skin, her hair, her nose, are not as beautiful and definitely less desirable than her white counterparts.

Don Imus' comments remind me of the time when a news director told me that the audience would never connect with "a black" in a role of authority on a television show.



My girlfriend, a gorgeous ebony-skinned sister who models, expressed to me that Don Imus reminded her of the time when a modeling agency told her she would never grace the covers of mainstream magazines like Vogue or Bazaar and that she should just submit her portfolio to Essence magazine. One of my best friends, who is Jewish and has three beautiful children by an African-American man, said Don Imus' comments reminded her of the day her daughter came home and told her that a white teacher asked her why she came to school with her hair so nappy.

No matter if the comments come from a teacher, news director, or a shock jock, they reinforce the notion that certain groups of people are inferior and that those differences should be criticized and not celebrated.

Here in America, we have freedom of speech. But, we are also a country that people risk their lives to reach because we have told them - and proven - that we are the greatest country in the world.

And abusing that freedom of speech only diminishes our Greatness.

1 comment:

Mizrepresent said...

I hear you about your GF...i was told the same thing when i wanted to be Miss Teen USA... and let me tell you, it was a hard pill to swallow...in fact i choked.