Ok. I like you totally rolled my eye and called my Mom with the latest news of radio personality Don Imus' latest racial slur. You know after the whole event with the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team and Don Imus referring to them as "Nappy Headed" Whatevers, then losing his job after a dramatic meeting with the classy members of that team, then returning, America was just waiting for Imus to explode with something.
Today we got it. Sort of.
This is the text of what Imus said from AOL Sports:
When one of Imus's on-air partners, Warner Wolf, discussed Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones' legal troubles, Imus asked, "What color is he." When told that Jones is African-American, Imus said, "Well, there you go. Now we know."
The full transcript is below.
Wolf: "Defensive back Adam 'Pacman' Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys. Here's a guy suspended all of 2007 following a shooting in a Vegas night club."
Imus: "Well, stuff happens. You're in a night club, for God's sake. What do you think's gonna happen in a night club? People are drinking and doing drugs, there are women there, and people have guns. So, there, go ahead."
Wolf: "He's also been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005."
Imus: "What color is he?"
Wolf: "He's African-American."
Imus: "Well, there you go. Now we know."
When I first listened to that on the radio, I couldn't believe it. I called my Mom and we talked in agreement that it wasn't the right thing to say. But then after a few hours, I actually listened to Imus again and I could not work up a sweat of anger. I actually looked at what he said in this way:
Imus was trying to say that given the way Blacks are treated in America, that's why PacMan has had so many problems. I got that. I get that. Don Imus is right.
Hey, Imus did screw up with the Rutgets Women's Basketball Team -- he admits that. But this is far afield from that by a long stretch. Let's give Don Imus the benefit of the doubt.
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