Don Imus - Give Mr. Imus A Break On PacMan Jones

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.

Don Imus - Problem Of White Racism Masked By Talk About Black Rappers

The Don Imus matter has opened a sore in American society and demonstrated to me that racism still exists and more to the point White Racism. In fact, this form of mental illness is so persistent that those who either practice is or support those who do have worked to steer the focus away from the identification of and reduction of White Racism and on to ....Black rappers.

Wow.

What's all the more upsetting is that Jason Whitlock and Carol Swain -- both Black writers -- have allowed their own self-hate of Blacks to spill over into their appearance on CNN and The Today Show to talk not about White Racism but Black Rappers.

And in Jason's case, his Black self-hatred even caused him to treat a Black family at the Las Vegas Airport like they were animals to be feared and challenged, rather than people who deserved respect.

I'm really disppointed in them. But the task remains -- Racism is a mental illness and White racism must be stamped out. Now, since Whites are the majority and have majority economic power, any talk of Black racism in some weird attempt to even the argument is plain nuts. Plus, Whites are 77 percent of the U.S. population. That's almost eight of every ten people. You can't argue that racism is an "equal" problem if there are more Whites and Blacks, or anyone else!

Plus, the decades past since the passasge of the civil rights amendment have seen African Americans struggle with an inferiority complex that says "You're not good enough because you're not White and were enslaved."

Both ideas are not true, but they're borne of the extreme prejudice that Blacks in America have suffered; a prejudice that comes from White Racism. It's not a Black problem or a White problem; it's our problem.

Lest you think this division between Black and White views is not along color lines, research Technorati by typing in "Jason Whitlock" and reading the difference. Many African Americans don't like what Jason wrote, whereras many Whites do. It's a wake up call for those who think America's grown. It's got a long way to go. Also, it's was shown in a recent study that Whites react more negatively to Blacks than to Whites.

The seeds of what drive Don Imus to make the comment he did, are right there. This pattern of thinking must be unlearned or the problems that stem from it will continue.

Also, by writing this, I'm not referring to everyone who's White or Black, so don't even try to water down the argument with that presentation. Anyone an everyone knows there's a problem.

There's not so much Black racism as Black anger over White racism. Thus, when White Racism is eliminated, Black anger too will go away. You can bet on it.

What Don Imus said was pure White Racism. In an effort to deflect the blame from him, he threw up the Black Rapper claim and those who are White jumped at the device Don Imus himself crafted to defend himself. Now they had something to fight back with and turn the matter away from White Racism.

And that's sick, because we're still stuck with the problem of White Racism. The one best way to eliminate it is diversity. Diversity must be a new public policy objective. We must retrain the people of America to expect this, to walk in room full of Blacks or Whites and ask why there are not more different kinds of people in the room? This should be our objective. I certainly know it's mine.

I also know its the objective of many people, White, Asian, Latino, and on. It's just not a matter of national importance and it should be, plus you've got White conservatives like Tucker Carlson launching senceless rants against it when they get the chance.

Now that's one guy I'd love to debate; I'd make him look ridiculous.

Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock At War With His Own Black Community

Read: Problem of White Racism masked by talk about Black Rappers.

Jason Whitlock's an African American columnist for the Kansas City Star. On the 12th he wrote an article blaming Don Imus' words on the "problem" created by Black rappers.

That's stupid.

What bothers me about Jason is he's on shows basically attacking the all-too-easy target of the Black rapper , while leaving every White racist and White rapper without blame.

Look, it's plain dumb to compare Don Imus obvious racial gaffe to Black rappers. The real problem is that there are people who are White and Asian and Latino who feel that it's OK to make fun of and essentially be hurtful to those who are Black because they are Black.

Those people who do this will use any reason available to justify their words of hate, including pointing at Black rappers as "creating the climate". (Hey, to blame hundreds of years of racism on a 17-year old kid is pretty silly when you think about it.)

But it take a stupidly-reasoning person to help them point the finger and thus let them off the hook.

That's what Jason Whitlock is trying to do.

As I do my research on Jason, it turns out that he's pissed with all Blacks -- I guess including himself -- because he had a bad experience at the airport leaving the NBA All Star Game. Here's what happened:

"The whole All-Star Weekend just put me on edge; it left me in a sour mood. I can't deny what I saw.

When I arrived at the Vegas airport Tuesday afternoon, All-Star Weekend gave me one final kick in the stomach, and I'm not talking about the long lines at the Southwest baggage check-in.

I stood in line for 75 minutes in the Southwest A boarding group. I was fourth in line behind three elderly white people (ages 60 to 75). They beat me in line by three or four minutes. The A, B and C groups were all filled an hour before the flight's scheduled departure.

Twenty feet away from where we all waited in line, a middle-aged black woman (45 to 55), what appeared to be her two sons (22 to 30) and an elderly black man (60s) all sat together and randomly slept, ate and talked.

When it was time to board the flight, the group of four stood, approached the elderly white woman standing in front of me and told her, "We're second in line. That's my bag on the floor."

The elderly white people were obviously intimidated. I wasn't and told the group they were crazy, and they needed to head to the back of the A boarding group and get in line behind all the people who stood for an hour.

Of course, they disagreed. I walked over and told the Southwest boarding agent to fix the problem. He witnessed the whole thing and came over and told the group they needed to move to the back of the A group. Words were exchanged between the agent and the group.

Eventually, and I'm not making this up, one of the young men told the agent that this was racism and they were being to asked to move because they were black. The other young man said that people like me were the reason black people couldn't get ahead.

The rest of the story is boring. I bring the story up to illustrate the mindset that has infected some of us in the black community."

What bothers me about this is that Jason's using a bad experience with a group of individuals who are Black to cast a bad light on all who are Black, and then gets on national television to spread his hatred of what he sees as "Black culture."

And he's Black. He might as well be White and racist, because that classic way of acting comes from a person who's basically blocked their intellect from seeing that there are all kinds of people and that the ones he encountered were obviously not good people -- period, end of story.

But it's not because Jason's telling of the story calls his own behavior into question. It reads -- he told the Black family they were "crazy" -- like Jason has such a weird chip on his shoulder with other Blacks that he as much caused the confrontation at the airport, whereas he could have been the sooth-saying voice that made a bad situation good and gained new friends in the process.

Nope. Jason would rather fight Blacks he views as holding a stereotype. I know this kind of person, because I was that way once. It's a terrible way to be and I was called on it by a neighbor when I was 17-years old. I felt bad, because I'm emphathic enough to be able to feel someone elses pain, especially when I'm the cause of it.

I can't at all say Jason's like that. He was even disrespectful to CNN contributor Amy Holmes, who's Black and female. She's making a point, and he just laughs dismissively while she's talking.

And Jason's talking about Black men being disrespectful to Black women?

Nice demonstration, dude!

There are some of us who think that to have and gain White friends -- and be paid at a position owned by a White-controlled media company, let's be honest -- means pointing hateful fingers at other Blacks who aren't "refined like they are." I'm serious. Jason comes across as that kind of person. Heck, he might find it weird to know that some of us drive
Hybrid Cars!

I've moved far beyond my teens, and learned that I can and do have good friends of all kinds, and don't have to sellout Blacks who aren't "like me" to get them.

I hope Jason sees this, and as they say "Check's himself before he wrecks"....Us!

Don Imus Fired By CBS Today - CNN.com

This just happened 90 minutes ago

NEW YORK (CNN) -- CBS has canceled Don Imus' radio show, effective immediately, after uproar over his racist and sexist comments about Rutgers women's basketball team.

"From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent," said CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves, in announcing the decision.

The decision by CBS came a day after NBC Universal decided to part ways with Imus, thus canceling the simulcast of his show on MSNBC.

Amid the outcry over his on-air racial slur last week, shock jock Imus said Thursday that he had "apologized enough" and that he will not go on "some talk show tour."

"I'm not going to go talk to Larry King or Barbara Walters or anyone else," Imus said on his flagship station in New York, WFAN-AM, which is owned by CBS Corp. and distributes "Imus in the Morning" nationally.

"The only other people I want to talk to are these young women at the team, and then that's it," Imus said.

He was referring to the members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team, whom he described as "nappy-headed hos" the day after the team lost the NCAA championship to the University of Tennessee. (Gallery: Other controversial comments aired on Imus show)

He has repeatedly apologized for those remarks. Team members have agreed to meet with him privately, but so far no meeting has taken place.

"It gets said. Kids get hurt," he said. "At some point -- I'm not sure when -- I'm going to go talk to the team and that's all I'm interested in doing."

NBC News President Steve Capus, appearing on CNN, said Imus' comments had "touched a nerve" within the organization and firing him was "the only action we could take." (Your e-mails on Imus)

Despite being dropped by NBC, Imus hosted his show from the MSNBC studios in New Jersey. He did not appear on TV.

"As you know, MSNBC folded up yesterday, so we're just on the radio," he said.

Imus was broadcasting his 18th annual radio charity fundraiser, which has pulled in $50 million since 1990. It ends Friday.

"This may be our last radiothon, so we need to raise $100 million dollars," Imus said, chuckling.

According to The Associated Press, Imus raised $1 million in the first five hours of Thursday's fundraiser.

The disparaging remark prompted eight companies to pull their ads from Imus' show: Staples, General Motors, Sprint Nextel, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, PetMed Express, American Express and Bigelow Tea.

Bruce Gordon, a member of CBS Corp.'s board of directors, had called for Imus' firing from WFAN.

Speaking Thursday on CNN's "American Morning," Gordon said that, speaking "as an African-American man in this country, Don Imus violated our community. He attacked beautiful, talented, classy women and when those women showed themselves to the country, I think that those words matched with those images made it clear to America that Don Imus was wrong."

Gordon is a former president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

At a rally outside CBS's New York offices Thursday, civil rights activist Al Sharpton pressured the network to cancel Imus' morning show.

Rain cut attendance at the rally -- another has been scheduled for Saturday afternoon -- but Sharpton, joined by the father of a player on the team, spoke to the media.

"NBC has done in our judgment what is right," he said, and CBS must not be "the dam holding back the waters of insensitivity."

Sharpton said he had met with several NBC leaders and planned to meet with CBS leaders later in the day.

Linzell Vaughn, the father of sophomore center Kia Vaughn, said Imus' comments were "like a slap in the face."

"Do not disrespect our children," he said. (Players talk of hurt, seeking understanding)

Sharpton said the airways should not be used to "call children hard-core hos, nappy-headed hos. ... None of us have the right to use the public airways to express our bigotry."

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson also spoke on Thursday afternoon outside CBS' offices and called for Imus' firing.

"This is not the first time this has happened on this show," he said, and spoke of previous Imus comments that Jackson characterized as racist and sexist.

"'Three strikes you're out' ought to apply to this position," he said.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

MSNBC Drops Don Imus

After a rowdy and racist comment, which came at the expense of the Rutgers Women's Basketball team, and calling them "Rough Hos'" and "Nappy Headed Hos" and much exhange between bloggers , media annoucers on television and radio, and a sharp exchange between Al Sharpton and Don Imus on Sharpton's show, "Today's Show" host Al Roker calling for his head, then three key sponsors -- Staples, Proctor & Gamble, and Bigelow Teas backing out, MSNBC has elected to drop the simulcast of Imus' radio show.

Here's the report from MSNBC:

MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 1 minute ago
NEW YORK - MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the “Imus in the Morning” radio program, responding to growing outrage over the radio host’s racial slur against the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

In a statement, NBC News announced "this decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees. What matters to us most is that the men and women of NBC Universal have confidence in the values we have set for this company. This is the only decision that makes that possible."

The network statement went on to say, "Once again, we apologize to the women of the Rutgers basketball team and to our viewers. We deeply regret the pain this incident has caused."

(MSNBC TV is wholly owned by NBC Universal. MSNBC.com is a joint venture between NBC Universal and Microsoft).

The network’s decision came after a growing list of sponsors — including American Express Co., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., and General Motors Corp. — said they were pulling ads from Imus’ show for the indefinite future.

But it did not end calls for Imus to be fired from the radio portion of his program. The show originates from WFAN-AM in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One, both of which are managed by CBS Corp. For its part, CBS has not announced plans to discontinue the show.

Before the announcement was made, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) had appeared on the MSNBC program "Hardball," where host David Gregory asked the senator and presidential candidate if he thought Imus should be fired.

Controversy continues to swirl around radio host Don Imus after his controversial remarks on-air.

"I don't think MSNBC should be carrying the kinds of hateful remarks that Imus uttered the other day," Obama said.

He went on to note that he and his wife have "two daughters who are African-American, gorgeous, tall, and I hope, at some point, are interested enough in sports that they get athletic scholarships. ... I don't want them to be getting a bunch of information that, somehow, they're less than anybody else. And I don't think MSNBC should want to promote that kind of language."

Obama went on to say that he would not be a guest on Imus' show in the future.

Team wants to question Imus about remarks
On his April 4 show, Imus and his producer had referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos."

The 10 members of the Rutgers team spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday about the on-air comments, made the day after the team lost the NCAA championship game to Tennessee.

Some of them wiped away tears as their coach, C. Vivian Stringer, criticized Imus for “racist and sexist remarks that are deplorable, despicable, abominable and unconscionable.” The women, eight of whom are black, called his comments insensitive and hurtful.

Rudy Giuliani Supports Don Imus - GOP Presidential Candidates Would Appear On Don Imus' Show - Wash Post

Just a few days after the major on-air racial slur uttered by Don Imus , GOP Presidential Candidates stated that they would -- I repeat -- would -- appear on The Don Imus Show, according to the Washington Post . This is right after Staples, Proctor & Gamble, and Bigelow Teas pulled their ads from the shock-jock's show. Rudy Giuliani, the current GOP front runner, has openly said he would appear on Don Imus' show again.

I guess through reasoning we can assume that Rudy Giuliani will not get donations from representatives of Staples, Proctor & Gamble, and Bigelow Teas.

Here's what was reported:

* Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.): "The comments of Don Imus were divisive, hurtful and offensive to Americans of all backgrounds. With a public platform, comes a trust. As far as I'm concerned, he violated that trust."

* Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.): "I certainly understand the outrage over his remarks. ... Those women did not deserve those hateful and hurtful comments."

* Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): "He has apologized ... He said that he is deeply sorry. I'm a great believer in redemption. Whether he needs to do more in order to satisfy the concerns of people like the members of that team, that's something that's between him and them. But I have made many mistakes in my life ... and I have apologized, and most people have accepted that apology."

* Former Gov. Mike Huckabee(R-Ark.) spokeswoman Kirstin Fedewa: "The Governor said yesterday that what Imus said was both insensitive and wrong -- and that he certainly should apologize for his remarks. On top of everything else, what made this so inappropriate was that it was directed at young college women who are amateur athletes and not public figures."

"The Governor considers Imus a friend -- even though he doesn't agree with him on this. Imus did apologize, and he should -- and he's taking repeated steps to show genuine contrition, including offering to meet with the girls, to apologize in person."

* Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) spokesman Kevin Madden: "Governor Romney hasn't been invited to appear on the show again, but if he did go back on the show he would be sure to tell Mr. Imus how awful those remarks were. Governor Romney believes that those remarks were hurtful and obviously never should have even been uttered."

* Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.): Spokesman Pahl Shipley said that Richardson has been in North Korea on a diplomatic mission and was not even sure whether the governor was aware of the controversy.

* Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.): "As the father of two young girls, I can imagine how hurtful these comments were to these young women and their parents. The comments were wrong and unacceptable. We know what the charges are, and we should see what actions he takes in the coming days. I'm glad that he has apologized, and I take him to be sincere in his apology. But his actions in the future will be the test of that sincerity and I'll let that guide my decision."

* Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella: "Mayor Giuliani spoke with Don Imus earlier today and it was clear that Mr. Imus recognizes he made a very big mistake. The Mayor believes Don Imus understands the damage he has done and he did the right thing by apologizing. Mayor Giuliani would appear on Don Imus' program again."

Don Imus Loses Sponsors - Staples, Proctor & Gamble, Bigelow Tea Pull Adds From Don Imus On MNBC

This is a sure signal of positive social change. According to Bloomberg and CNBC, Staples, Proctor & Gamble, and Bigelow Tea have pulled their ads from radio host Don Imus's morning show to protest his racially charged remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Proctor and Gamble's one of the largest advertisers in the World, and they've pulled their ads from all of MSNBC Daytime.

I love it. It's a great change and it is a path toward a better World, and certainly an improved America. It's also a sign to the shock-jocks who think it's OK to insult people based on ethnicity. It's not. It also sends a warning to those who would think it's open season on someone because they're Black.

No way.

Don Imus Racism Does Not Compare To Rappers - Integrationists v. Segregationists

What's interesting about this time in the maturation of our society is the conflict between what I will call integrationists and segregationists. Integrationists have friends of different skin colors and backgrounds and prize diversity. Segregationists don't have friends of different colors and are at best luke warm about diversity. (And when I mean friends, I'm referring to people you invite over to your house, not people who you run into who are acquaintences.)

The Integrationists to a person denounce what Don Imus said and call for his outright ouster. The Segregationists -- here's another example -- don't think this is a big deal what he said and that he's using free speech. It's also distubing that the vast majority of Segregationists bloggers -- at least according to their Imus reactions -- are white and male according to my Technorati tour. Not surprisingly, the Integrationists are White, Black, Latino, Asian, male, female, etc...

I'm an Integrationist.

What Don Imus said are the words of a Segregationist. A person who sees people as apart due to skin color and doens't want to get to know anyone who looks different from them. What Don Imus said in referring to Black Women as "Nappy Headed Ho's" are the comments of someone who is not in the company of Black Women, and doens't want to be. That's the sickness of it all. He's -- in one fell swoop -- denounced an entire group of people. What's more, anyone tunes in to CNBC is forced to here Imus' crap when he's on. His show's supported by corporations who purchase ads, which is a way of saying "We love your content."

Wow.

Now how that compares with -- as one Blogger put it "Black Rappers" -- is a question only a Segregationist would come up with because only they would stereotype rappers as being first Black and then racist. Of course Integrationists know that there are rappers like LL Cool J who don't use hate speech.

But on top of that, every Integrationist knows that one can simply chose not to buy a certain rap record. Look at the whole matter of "Prussian Blue" - Lamb and Lynx Gaede, those 13-year old white girls who made racist records, yet gain fan mail from nutos as far away as Germany and who are concerned about "The White Race." (No kidding about that.) Did any of the Segregationist bloggers call for their "firing" or for that matter, their parents?

Nope.

But they didn't hit the top ten lists either, and several of their planned concerts were cancelled. Why? Because they advance the same kind of race hate tha Imus' comment would seem to imply. You could take his statement, install it in a Prussian Blue song, and their sick Segregationist fans would love it.

Why not include them and compare them to Don Imus? Why focus on Rappers who are Black? I'll tell ya why. Because Segregationists are looking for every reason not to -- integrate. They don't want diversity and loved it when things were divided and Whites were on top.

Am I saying that Segregationists are all White? No. Some are not, and yet can't see a society where there's true balance and real equal opportunity as well as constant integration. It's a new concept to thos who are -- well, mentally enslaved.

Don Imus Made Racist Remarks Before - Staff Should Be Fired

First, this matter of someone making fun of someone else because their skin and hair are different from that person should be such that we're punishing people for doing it. It's not funny at all.

Now, Don Imus fears for his job after making one of the most terrible on air comments about someone else and based on their skin color in history, in this case, the Rutgers Women's Basketball team.

This Fair.org's discussion of the Imus matter, thanks to Sharon Cobb:

Racism Is to Be Expected From Don Imus
CBS, NBC, media pundits complicit in talk host's bigotry

4/9/07

In the wake of the latest racial slur broadcast on Don Imus' show, the question is not whether Imus is a racist—the man, after all, admitted to hiring one of his co-hosts to do "nigger jokes" (60 Minutes, 7/19/98)—but why CBS, NBC and top media pundits seem to feel no embarrassment over associating with his racism.

The Imus in the Morning radio show is aired on CBS-owned radio station WFAN, and is syndicated nationally by CBS-owned Westwood One. It is simulcast daily on MSNBC, a cable news channel in which GE subsidiary NBC Universal holds a controlling interest. Top media pundits like Tim Russert, Howard Fineman, Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd are frequent Imus guests. The show has also been a conduit for televised racism and other bigotry for years.

FAIR and others have documented numerous instances of Imus and his on-air colleagues expressing overt racism and other forms of bigotry. Imus himself has referred to African-American journalist Gwen Ifill as "a cleaning lady," to New York Times sports reporter Bill Rhoden as "quota hire" and to tennis player Amelie Mauresmo as "a big old lesbo." Imus called Washington Post reporter Howard Kurtz a "boner-nosed... beanie-wearing Jewboy," referred to a disabled colleague as "the cripple," and to an Indian men's tennis duo as "Gunga Din and Sambo." In Imus' words, the New York Knicks are "chest-thumping pimps."

Imus' on again/off again sidekick Sid Rosenberg was temporarily fired in 2001 for calling tennis player Venus Williams an "animal" and remarking that the Williams sisters—Venus and her tennis player sister Serena—would more likely be featured in National Geographic than in Playboy. Rosenberg insisted to New York's Daily News (6/7/01) that his comments weren't racist, "just zoological." In 2004, MSNBC had to apologize when the rehired Rosenberg referred to Palestinians as "stinking animals."

In May 2005, MSNBC let Contessa Brewer out of her short stint as a news reader on Imus' morning show after Imus had made a daily game of crude personal attacks against her, calling her a pig, a skank, dumber than dirt and other similar felicities, all on air. MSNBC claimed they "expressed their displeasure" to the host (New York Post, 5/1/05), while noting that his "humor" was "often brilliant and provocative."

In his most recent racist outburst, on April 4, Imus called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," just moments after sidekick and executive producer Bernard McGuirk (the "nigger jokes" hire) called them "hard-core hos." The Rutgers team, which recently played in the national championship finals, is made up of eight African-American women and two white women.

On April 6, Imus issued an apology for the slur of the Rutgers team. It was the latest in a long line of apologies for bigotry on his show. Past apologies have served to take pressure off Imus, but haven't resulted in a change of behavior by the host or his colleagues.

Neither has Imus' history of bigotry dissuaded prominent journalists and pundits, more after publicity than principle, from appearing on Imus' show. Friday's show, in addition to Imus' apology, featured an interview with NBC's Meet the Press host Tim Russert.

In an exceptional report on April 9, New York Times reporter David Carr noted Imus' history of racism and the parade of media luminaries who have appeared on his show, who have rarely raised questions about the show's bigotry. Carr noted that, even in the aftermath of the latest Imus slurs, Newsweek editor Evan Thomas defended appearing on the show, explaining: "I am going on the show, though. I think if I didn't, it would be posturing. I have been going on the show for quite some time and he occasionally goes over the line."

It's time for CBS and NBC to acknowledge that Imus is unlikely to ever rein in his bigotry, that the crude and hateful insults are a key part of his routine: Like the cowboy hat, they provide an air of "edginess" to what is often otherwise a dull exercise in Beltway insider back-scratching.

A media company that chooses to run such a show has two choices: It can declare, explicitly or implicitly, that calling people "nappy-headed hos" and "beanie-wearing Jewboys" is an acceptable part of the national discussion. Or it can end its affiliation with said program.

The Russerts, Finemans and the like who elect to appear on Imus' show have a similar decision: Are you down with "nigger jokes" or aren't you?