In last Thursday’s class we had a very interesting
discussion and in class activity. What I
thought was most interesting was the discussion that came about because of the
Don Imus controversy. As we all learned
Don Imus was a radio personality for WNBC and made some very ignorant comments
about the primarily African American Rutgers Women’s Basketball team, which in
turn got him fired from his job following his atrocious attempt at an
apology. What interested me the most was
the discussion that came about from this.
We began to talk about whether or not Don Imus was right in saying that
and should he had been fired and all of that type of stuff. When all of the students really agreed that
he should have been fired and was ignorant for what he had said we then watched
a video featuring comedian D.L. Hughley.
In this video Hughley called the same Rutgers Womens Basketball team
some of the ugliest women he has ever seen as well as saying they were “nappy
headed” on a comedy special that I have watched. We began to break this down. Immediately most of the students in class
gave him leeway and just said, “He is a comedian so he is not serious and it
is fine” and it was also said since he made the observation about African
American women and he is African American, it is fine. What I thought is why that action is okay
just because he was African American?
When we spoke about gender inequality in sports, many people’s opinions
led to the answer, “That’s just how it is”, and Dr. Spencer did not want to
accept that answer and wanted more thought into the inequality. So I want to know why when we discussed what
African Americans are allowed to do and say about other races and ethnic
backgrounds, that has no back lash? Even in
class many people simply said, “That’s just how it is”, along with myself, but
I don’t understand how the topic rested so easily on that notion. I thought it was very interesting that once
race is brought into the equation everyone treads very carefully when it comes
to making an opinion or observation out of the fear of being labeled as “racist”.
Hi Gene,
ReplyDeleteI agree with several points you made in your post, especially the point about "that's just how it is" and how easily things can be dismissed just because it is a sensitive topic for most people. I enjoy our class discussion because for the most part, people are not afraid to speak up their opinions but when it comes to deep issues in to race and especially what/who constitute as racist/racism, people are generally a little more conservative as to what they say.
I believe that WNBC was forced to fire Imus because of the context of the talk show he was on, it was not meant for comedic relief or color commentary, but simply to review sporting events. As for D.J. Hughley, although I don't necessarily support what he said, he is a comedian on a comedy related talk show. Those kind of comments, in that context, just won't have too much of a negative backlash.
-Ryan Hetrick
Hello Gene,
ReplyDeleteThe discussion we had in class on Thursday was very interested and this is why I enjoy this class so much. As an African American I can say I didn't agree with either of the comments made by these two professionals. Their words were very disrespectful. Yes, we all agreed that since DL Hughley is a comedian that he gets leeway of not being racist, but I don't remember us discussing because he was black he had the right to say that. In my eyes I wouldn't care if you were black or white, small or tall, male or female I would not let you talk about me in that kind of way. DL Hughley being African American doesn't give him the right to talk about those young women in that way. I sometimes believe that comedians go too far in their acts. DL Hughley is one of those comedians for example. Yes its funny but sometimes that's to a extent.
As far as African Americans calling each other the N-WORD and white people are not allowed to I have been working on figuring this out myself. If people would sit down and listen to the context of how we use the word towards each other then your opinions/confusion maybe solved. The topic about black and whites is still a topic everyone is not conformable talking about in the open yet in my opinion. I like discussing it because I get to get insight on others views and thoughts!
-Sparkle Robinson
Gene,
ReplyDeleteI agree that these two professionals were out of line by making the comments that they did. WNBC did the right thing by firing Don Imus. I also don't think DL Hughley should have gone on the talk show to talk about the Don Imus situation and then to call all the Women Rutgers Basketball players ugly and "nappy headed". Like Sparkle said, that is very disrespectful of professionals to do and to me it wasn't really funny at all. I think DL Hughley was trying to poke fun of the situation, but there wasn't much he could do to turn it around to make a joke out of it.
When talking about racism, I think when we say "that's just how it is", we don't really have a distinct answer and we say that because it is a broad way to explain reality and history. I feel like race has so much of a background that people don't have the answer to a lot of questions just because they are not sure on why things are certain ways, so the best answer to give is "that's just how it is". I think we would be moving forward if we knew how to elaborate on race questions and situations and to know why things are the way they are besides being broad about certain things.
-Kody Burlingame
Hi Gene,
ReplyDeleteI agree with several points that you made. I believe that WNBC did the correct thing by firing Don Imus, he had no reason to put Womans Rutgers basketball team in that negative context. Imus continued on his rant by talking about Tennessee's team by calling them cute and pretty. That was just ridiculous to say for a so called "professional". When talking about DL Hughley, although his job is to make people laugh and amuse his fans, I think he took it a little too far. However, I do also believe comedians also get away with more then the average person because the boundaries are usually stretched when making jokes.
I agreed with your points that it's unacceptable to reason for "that's just how it is" and stay with that when talking about racism. I know that racism is a sensitive subject and many people from our class shy away from talking about it. I think it's the easy answer to give, especially in class when talking about racism. I know for a fact that it still exists in todays world, but I find it wrong that we still accept it and settle for "that's just how it is".
-Brett Creamer
Gene,
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what you said. I think that this whole situation was a mess. Don Imus as a professional should have watched what he said and I think his consequence of getting fired was completely appropriate. I also think that D.L. Hughley was out of line, but I think he used comedy to mask his comment which made it seem less intense to the public. as far as the "that's just how it is" I think we default to this excuse because it is such a touchy subject that no one wants to go into it. I think that no matter what, racial slurs are still racial slurs, no matter who said it. hopefully, racism as a whole can be wiped out, I think it is getting easier and easier with each generation so hopefully one day things will be different.
Jenn Zoellick
Gene,
ReplyDeleteYou made some really interesting points in this. I do agree with people saying it is like this because that is just how it has always been. Personally I think all races can get away with being racist against their own race. We though just tend to see it more amongst African-Americans than amongst whites. The other point I think that needs to be brought up is that he is a comedian and that also gives him another reason he is allowed to make those comments.
Josiah Blevins
Going with the consensus, it was right for Imus to get fired after the remarks he made about the Rutgers women's basketball team. What I actually found to be more insulting was the fact that he pointed out how much more attractive the Tennessee women's team was. However, it seems like comedians just have that immunity to say what they want, when they want, with minimal repercussions. Take Daniel Tosh for example, if he was scrutinized for everything he said on air, he wouldn't have a job. Millions of people tune in every week to watch Tosh.0 and the things he says is much worse than what DL or Imus said. In the context of things, because Tosh is a comedian, people think that what he is saying is not out of spite or personal opinion, it's just to get a laugh, however, Imus on the other hand was in a position where personal opinion is taken more seriously. That class was definitely interesting to discuss.
ReplyDeleteNate Dudzik