Racist?

Imus in the Muck

By Rick Horowitz

Of course Don Imus is a racist. Next question?

A racist is someone who does racist things, or makes racist comments. Imus made insulting and degrading comments about a group of young women -- about their appearance, even about their morals -- based solely on the skin color of most of the members of that group. Or do you think that "nappy-headed ho's" is an equal-opportunity insult?

He says racist things -- insulting and degrading things about people of another race based solely on their race. That makes him a racist in my book.

And "nappy-headed ho's" was hardly the first time. One slur too many, it turns out.

"But he raises money for charity!" you say. Fine -- then he's a racist who also raises money for charity. I can hold these two facts in my mind simultaneously. So can you.

That doesn't make him not a racist. It makes him a racist with some good qualities, too. How much weight you choose to give to the good qualities -- whether they're weighty enough to outweigh the racist parts -- that's a decision you're free to make for yourself, just as Imus's advertisers are doing, just as Imus's employers are doing. Plenty of people have complex characters that are "some of this, some of that."

But that doesn't mean that "this" isn't part of the mix. And part of Don Imus's mix, a long trail of evidence screams, is racist.

"But he doesn't really believe those things," you say.

So that makes it OK? That he's willing to make racist comments he doesn't personally believe, because -- why? Because he thinks it'll please his fans? Boost his ratings?

That's his defense?

It was George Wallace, the story goes, who lost his first race for governor of Alabama back in the 1950s, after his opponent in the Democratic runoff painted him as the more moderate candidate on racial issues; Wallace famously vowed he would "never be outniggered again." So I guess you could say that George Wallace wasn't really a racist either, not in his heart, anyway; he just said what he said and did what he did to get ahead.

Not much of a defense. Besides, the people who say those kinds of things give sanction, give license, to other people whose views on these matters might be bent in the very same direction. People whose views might not be quite as...nuanced as those of Messrs. Wallace or Imus. Pretend-to-be racists can do nearly as much damage as the other kind.

"But he doesn't always say those kinds of things," you say. "Imus also has serious conversations about serious issues with important politicians and major movers in the media."

True enough. So you're saying he's merely an occasional racist? To qualify as "racist," does a person have to spout venom 24/7? Old Faithful only pops its cork once every 90 minutes or so; it's still a geyser, even when it's not blowing steam. Seems to me a racist is a racist even between outbursts.

"But he was only trying to get a laugh," you say. That's his defense? That he had nothing against these particular young women from Rutgers, but that he and his sidekicks went after them anyway? Just for the fun of it?

I'm not impressed.

It isn't a small thing to call someone a racist; it's a nasty word to hang around anyone's neck.

Even the president of NBC News, even as he was explaining his decision to drop the MSNBC simulcast of Imus's show, said he took Imus at his word that he was not a racist. "But the comments that came out of his mouth," Steve Capus conceded, "were, in fact, racist."

Unless someone wants to tell me that Imus rents his mouth out for parties, or that his mouth is periodically invaded by alien ventriloquists, I have to assume that what comes out of Imus's mouth is Imus's own doing.

And now his undoing.

Posted 4/12/07. Click to "Rick's" for award-winning commentary! (And tell the neighbors!)

Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist, TV commentator, writing coach and public speaker.

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