OPINION: What, Imus is no racist?

For this little rant people near and far have called for [Don Imus]' firing. Frankly, I can't get too upset about what a radio jockey says about anything. If Imus' employers were to fire him, I wouldn't want it to be over the racist component of his remarks. While I can't se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMcClatchy - Tribune Business News p. 1
Main Author Richardson, Charles E
Format Newsletter
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington Tribune Content Agency LLC 10.04.2007
Subjects
Graduation rate
Graduations & commencements
High school basketball
Racism
Women
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Summary:For this little rant people near and far have called for [Don Imus]' firing. Frankly, I can't get too upset about what a radio jockey says about anything. If Imus' employers were to fire him, I wouldn't want it to be over the racist component of his remarks. While I can't see how he made the mental leap of turning 10 athletic, college-educated women on a basketball floor playing for a national championship into, "nappy headed hos" "jigaboos and wannabes," that's a personal problem for his warped mind to figure out. First, the only thing nappy-headed about Rutgers was in Imus' racist imagination. Second, 52 percent of the students who attend Rutgers finished in the top half of their graduating high school class. Twenty-three percent finished in the top 10th of their classes. An out-of-state student pays almost $30,000 a year to live on campus. That's heavy tuition even for Imus' streetwalkers to pay.