“They got tattoos. They some hardcore hoes. Those some nappy head hoes,” Don Imus said after the Women’s NCAA Championship between the University of Tennessee and Rutgers University.
Uproars and outrage have been the lullabies of many blacks this week as they protested the statements Imus made. Many people question the motives behind the radio host’s words.
Why was the Women’s Rutgers Basketball team singled out?
Truth is, he thought he was going to get away with it.
Imus didn’t feel the need to respect us, therefore, he didn’t feel the need to respect our women. It wasn’t a fluke. He knew what he said. The comments he made were sexist and racist.
“They aren’t political figures, and they aren’t professionals,” said Rutgers women’s basketball head coach C. Vivian Stringer, “so why single them out.”
Who will make him accountable for his words? First, it was Rush Limbaugh and his comments on Donovan McNabb as a black quarterback.
Who will be next?
The problem is we are not seen for our intelligence or political presence.
They can accept us playing sports. They can accept us in entertainment, but we can’t be seen as technical or analytical thinkers.
We aren’t depicted as astronauts, scientists or doctors, regardless of the contributions we have made to those fields. Instead, we are linked to welfare, even though there are twice as many whites on welfare as blacks.
If Imus really wants to use a person’s hair as a guideline for judgment, what makes their “nappy hair” different from that fizzled mop on his head? There is no difference. It’s just ignorance.
The frame is the team is black, so the girls have to be ugly, with nappy hair, and just a bit of hoe to complement it all. Without a doubt the two-week suspension he was given is not enough; he needs to be fired. But where we will go from there?
If the situation was reversed and a black man shot statements out of his mouth the way Imus did, not only would he be fired, but he probably would not be able to work in the media business again.
It is a shame how we tip toe around the race issue until something like this happens. The fight for equality is still on. For these girls to be at Rutgers University and make the strides they have is an accomplishment of its own.
There is no reason why they appeared on CNN to convince the world they are more than just “jiggaboos and wannabes.”
They shouldn’t have to prove to the world they are aspiring to be doctors and lawyers.Those comments made were not just directed at the players, they were addressed to the black community. It was more than an insult, and it doesn’t need to be taken lightly.
Dontaye Carter is a junior broadcast student from Orlando. He can be reached at thefamuansports@hotmail.com.