The Don Imus Controversy

A lot of people have never heard of Don Imus, but I had. He had been embroiled in controversy in the past where he insulted gays, Arabs and yes, Blacks. Some people wonder what’s different this time. He insulted African-American women who have bright futures ahead of them. They’re working hard, future career women who a preparing to become doctors, lawyers, etc. They were attacked for no reason at all. Not only that their glory was stolen from them by Mr. Imus.

I must commend two women one is Vivian Stringer, the Head Coach of Rutgers University ladies basketball team and Essence Carson who is the captain of the team. These women and the entire basketball team has conducted themselves in an intelligent and dignified manner.

Do I think Don Imus should be fired? At first I thought he should, but then I thought well he’s a shock jock. This is what a shock jock does. In a way, he has allowed the Black leaders to look at the influences from our black cultures. Oprah Winfrey had a Town Hall on her show to discuss these issues. This should have been done a long time ago. Come to think of it, he is not thing only one who has done this. Where was the outrage when Howard Stern was doing all this? Today, he continues to degrade women.

I do think that Don Imus should be ashamed of himself. He insulted women he knew absolutely nothing about. I refuse to believe that he was just being "funny" as he said. Don Imus is old and smart enough to know that what he said was wrong. He’s lived in America long enough to know what’s considered offensive.

Now, the coach and the young women has forgiven him. I don’t believe it is the end for Don Imus. I believe that he will be bigger and richer than ever. Think Howard Stern getting $50 million for Sirius Radio. Don Imus has since apologized, but we will only find out if he means it when he gets another show and doesn’t make anymore derogatory comments. That remains to be seen.

This issue also is allowing music executives to discuss the rap lyrics.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-04-18-imus-rapmusic_N.htm

Hiring crisis for U.S. black youth

Hiring crisis for U.S. black youth

August 9, 2005
Seth Sandronsky


U.S. employers added 207,000 new jobs in July, while the national unemployment rate remained at 5.0 percent, the Labor Department reported on August 5. Yet for one group of workers in America, there is little to cheer about when it comes to being hired by employers.
The July jobless rate for America's black teens was 33.1 percent, up by 0.7 percentage points from June. In other words, black teens are out of a job at nearly seven times the overall national rate!
Skin colour matters in the U.S. labour market, which is promoted as the global model for other nations to follow. Under American capitalism, employment opportunity is supposed to grow when the private sector is freed from government regulation.
That is one theory. Social reality is another matter entirely for black teens living in the U.S. Their employment plight was apparently hardly deemed newsworthy in mass media reporting on the July jobs report – another failure of mainstream American journalism.
Black teens across the U.S. are experiencing joblessness at rates comparable to those experienced by the overall adult labour force during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
As my father told me, folks then had greetings that fit the hard times they lived. One common example was, "Are you working?"
Seven decades ago, he was one of the lucky folks who gained employment that paid him wages, labouring in rural areas for FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps. People’s organized resistance to the hardships they faced forced the federal government to respond when the private sector failed to create jobs.
Currently, the U.S. economy is growing. New jobs are being created in many sectors of the economy, including construction, real estate, restaurant and retail. At the same time, there is a festering jobs crisis for America’s black youth. They are living in depression-like times concerning employment opportunities, with their absence from payrolls failing to make front-page news.
Where is the outrage?
Seth Sandronsky is a member of Sacramento Area Peace Action and a co-editor with Because People Matter, Sacramento's progressive paper.