Cranky pants racist Don Imus, who forced himself into the headlines yesterday with a new bigoted remark to add to his collection, is now explaining away his statement as a just a little something everyone misunderstood. Discussing Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones yesterday morning, Imus was told on air that Jones has “been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.” Imus asked, “What color is he?” and was told, “He’s African-American.” Said Imus: "Well, there you go. Now we know.”
To the casual observer, this might've sounded like Imus was saying, "Well of course the guy who's been arrested six times has skin that's been kissed by the sun!" But that's not the case, insists the ignoramus. CONTINUED »
If there was one person who could attempt to trump NBC Sports' lead golf analyst Johnny Miller anti-Italian remarks against Rocco Mediate, it's none other than America's Favorite Racist Don Imus. On this morning's show, Imus & Co. were discussing suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones, who wants to drop his nickname. During the segment, one of his cohorts (perhaps Warner Wolfe?) tells Imus that Jones has “been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.” Asks Imus: "What color is he?” Response: "He’s African-American." You know where this is going. CONTINUED »
During the 1970 Alabama governor’s race between famed segregationist and former governor George Wallace and Albert Brewer, the incumbent, Wallace’s camp circulated ads feature a white girl surrounded by seven black boys with the slogan “Wake up Alabama! Blacks vow to take over Alabama.” They also spread rumors that Brewer was a “sissy,” that his two daughters had been impregnated by black men, and flamed fears of a “negro bloc” vote. The election, which Wallace eventually won, has been called one of the most negative campaigns in history and the “last openly racist” American political campaign.
As openly racist and nasty that race seemed, it’s not like we have reached some higher level of positive campaigning and colorblind voting. We’ve traded in openly-uttered slurs and clearly racist language with “coded” appeals to the sorts of people who vote based on that sort of thing. Since Wallace went no-hold-barred back in 1970, a more subtle racially-charged theme has run through governor, senatorial, congressional, and presidential races.
We all probably wanted to forget James Watson. Actually, you might have already forgotten him. Here’s a refresher: He’s a Nobel Laureate and one of the co-discoverers of DNA. He made headlines last fall when he made some very special comments about blacks “inferior intelligence” to London’s Sunday Times. It goes without saying that he was quite mistaken. Now, Henry Louis Gates has pulled Dr. Watson out of hiding for an interview on The Root. Watson told Gates that he had no recollection of making those statements, agreeing that they were wrong and offensive. But then most of what he says in the interview renders that denial and apology pretty unconvincing. Skip Gates concludes that the guy’s not a racist, but he is a racialist, which pretty much boils down to “scientific racist.”
Imus made it back to the airwaves after "nappy-headed hos." Now Dog The Bounty Hunter is returning after his off-air (but recorded) use of the n-word that his son was fingered for leaking.
Filming has already begun for the fifth season of the A&E reality series, and new episodes will begin airing this summer. [AP]
A "carefully choreographed" press conference yesterday announced the show's return, of which A&E spokesman Michael Feeney insists is "not about ratings" but rather, "We know his heart. We know him and know he's not a racist."
Now we can certainly understand anyone who's upset about Dog's return, but please, Al Sharpton, do not shut down television in protest.
Just one week after showing how committed he was to exploiting the black community, IAC chief Barry Diller has been slapped with a race discrimination lawsuit.
Diller, who just celebrated a courtroom victory over Liberty Media's John Malone, is being targeted by a former Home Shopping Network employee, Armanda Vernon, who says "she was turned down for numerous internal jobs despite being well-qualified" and that "her treatment fit a pattern of anti-black treatment at HSN." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for IAC told Page Six "Vernon filed a charge of race discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May, and they found insufficient evidence to support her allegations."
Can Diller's company really be guilty of racist employment practices when it just launched Rushmore Drive, the black search engine that makes it easier for African-Americans to find soul food Thanksgiving recipes? CONTINUED »
UK music magazine The World was today forced by an English court to apologize to Morrissey for mischaracterizing him as a racist. The publication had accused Moz of “attacking immigration” in an article after he had said in an interview that he’s hesitant to move back to the UK because of its dwindling British identity.
Slate's Wesley Morris: "Between the outrage over Obama's Jeremiah Wright problems and Bill Clinton's unbelievable mutation from American's first black president into Karl Rove, I don't have the bandwidth to fight Anna Wintour. Seeing that cover as purely racist doesn't give the people looking at it enough credit. It dates Vogue for relying on the allusion but it also dates us for going crazy over it. Racial hysteria is the old black. Maybe it's so old it's avant-garde—very Vogue." [Slate, earlier]
Forgive the Associated Press for only yesterday getting around to covering the "King Kong" controversy surrounding LeBron James' appearance on the cover of Vogue. After all, they only announced themselves as celebrity obsessed on Friday.
Fox News anchor Sean Hannity might be a Neo-Nazi-loving white supremacist sympathizer. Or maybe Hannity just took some phone calls from a Jew hater on his radio show a few years back. Or, equally plausible, he was never friends with Hal Turner. But he is friendly with one crazy white lady. [HuffPo]
In the UK today, Basil Brush, a children’s television program about a fox, was exonerated of charges of racism, reports the BBC. After receiving a phone call from a private citizen who complained of a scene depicting a “Gypsy woman,” police investigated the case, concluded it had no merit and made no arrests. In related news, IN ENGLAND YOU CAN CALL THE COPS IF YOU WITNESS RACISM ON TV AND THEY MIGHT GO AND ARREST SOMEONE!!!!!!
Awkward moment for Fox Sports:
We're predicting Al Sharpton will demand the firing of the Fox Sports' call-in screeners.
Our black little sister Stereohyped took to the streets yesterday to investigate hip-hop stereotypes. We learned that we should never judge baggy pants and that it’s impossible to seem smart when dressed up as a cat, even if it is Halloween. [Stereohyped]
The recent massacre in Cleveland has brought out the news instincts of Fox know-it-all John Gibson,
I know the shooter was white. I knew it as soon as he shot himself. Hip-hoppers don't do that. They shoot and move on to shoot again.
In case you missed it, by hip-hoppers, John Gibson was referring to black people, specifically the kinds who listen to hip-hop and murder people.
Oh, the soft-bigotry of low expectations.
Editorial Director
