Gwen Ifill in my opinion is the leading Black journalist in the country. She weighs in on Imus. It seems that Imus has a long history of slurring Black people.
Imus probably shouldn’t be on a national radio show. We shouldn’t have national figures spewing degrading speech on a daily basis.
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From NYT:
… Why do my journalistic colleagues appear on Mr. Imus’s program? That’s for them to defend, and others to argue about. I certainly don’t know any black journalists who will. To his credit, Mr. Imus told the Rev. Al Sharpton yesterday he realizes that, this time, he went way too far.
Yes, he did. Every time a young black girl shyly approaches me for an autograph or writes or calls or stops me on the street to ask how she can become a journalist, I feel an enormous responsibility. It’s more than simply being a role model. I know I have to be a voice for them as well. (more…)
Wow, the Imus thing is just crazy. I personally have mixed feelings about it. If any of you care to read it, one of our writers over at Highbrid Nation worked with Imus over at WFAN for several years and recently chimed in on the whole situation. He also reveals some details that the media is failing to report on in regards to the suspension
I feel if it were a black man making a racial slur against an all white basketball team they would have been fired immediately. There wouldn’t have been no discussion, no suspension or anything.
When I hear something like that, it makes me think that nothing too much has changed. It’s just more undercover. We are still fighting for the same thing Martin Luther King and many others fought for years ago and we still haven’t over come yet.
Donna –
Close. I think that you are very close to the truth but in the days of MLK, Sharpton would not have had a radio show. He would not have gotten almost any mainstream media attention. The fact that the studios were willing to listen to the concerns of Black people demonstrates that we have come a long way. The fact that Imus said in the first place reveals that we have a long way to go.
Thanks for your comments.
Evorgleb –
Thanks for your comments. I’ll check it out.
[…] I posted an OpEd that Gwen Ifill wrote on Tuesday of last week. She is on Meet the Press with Tim Russert earlier today. She and Eugene Robinson ask a simple question, where was the outrage from Tim Russert or Katie Couric or Charles Gibson or Brian Williams. These are the leading journalists in the country and we, the American public, heard nothing from them. Why? Where was Newsweek and other major magazines? They didn’t say squat until Imus was fired. I’ll post video of MTP later. (I’m in O’Hare airport. Not the best place to edit video.) […]