Between bad and bad...

Perhaps you've heard that there's a big stink over Don Imus calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "some nappy-headed hos" and his apology for doing so. MSNBC, which carries the show, can't get far away enough too quickly - though so far no one at his home station, WFAN, or his distributor, Westwood One, is saying anything about canning him.


I have never listened to him as my taste in talk radio runs to NPR, PRI, and the BBC on KQED Radio. It should be said also that I do not follow college or professional basketball.

On Tuesday morning, when Rutgers' [Women] Scarlet Knights and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers would be playing in the NCAA championship game that night, Imus and his producer Bernard McGuirk, who seems to be some kind of idiot in his own right, were discussing it when:

Imus: "That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos ..."

McGuirk: "Some hardcore ho's."

Imus: "That's some nappy-headed ho's there, I'm going to tell you that."

Since then Imus has been falling all over himself to apologize for the racist remark and, I understand, will be appearing on Al Sharpton's radio program tomorrow (4/9) despite the fact that Sharpton is clear he wants Imus fired.


What I don't hear anyone pointing out is that McGuirk's remark was disrespectful toward women, in particular these women, by calling them "ho's" in the first place. It's all about Imus and "nappy-headed" and that Imus should get fired, with only one story pointing out that there were sexist remarks made as well as racist ones. Nothing I've seen says anything about McGuirk at all, except in excerpts like the one I've posted above.


I'm definitely not saying that there shouldn't be consequences for racist remarks. I just don't get why there's not even half the stink about the sexist remark by the sidekick.


Oh, wait, those last five words are probably why. . .



Update: Someone else makes the point in the SF Chronicle on 4/10.

Another update: Imus lost his job on 4/12 because advertisers were leaving in droves. Because everyone else and her brother commented on the Imus remarks (and eventually others were pointing out the sexist remarks as well) I suppose I sound like "just one more voice" that was ranting. I had no idea it would receive so much attention - and, of course, neither did Imus or NBC...

Too bad Ann Coulter doesn't have a radio program from which she could get canned.