2008 Woodie Awards
What's the Real Deal?
A hidden poison in the black community
Ta-Kara Roquemore
Issue date: 4/23/07 Section: Voices
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After advertisers began pulling their sponsorship, MSNBC dismissed him from his TV show and CBS gave him the boot from his radio program. He is known as Don Immus, who's comments on the Rutger women's basketball team were thoughtless However, this incident highlights the silent disease deteriorating the black community.
During Imus's regular broadcasting time on Apr. 4, he said the phrase "nappy headed hos" to describe the team at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA )tournament playing against Tennessee.
What Imus said is by no way excusable, but it's not the first time statements listed as derogatory have been heard on our airways.
Rappers do it all the time. They do it in their music videos and it's definitely discriminatory against women, specifically black women. I am not saying that all rappers have filth filling the radio or cable waves. However, a huge majority of them do.
Would Imus have been right if he was in the entertainment industry? Should he have been with rapper Snoop Dogg?
In an interview Snoop Dogg did with MTV recently, he reportedly said that rap artists using the word "ho" in their lyrics means something completely different than what Imus meant.
He told MTV that rappers, "Are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--, that's trying to get a n---a for his money. These are two separate things."
Are they? Is he saying that young black women living in the 'hood' right now,aspiring to go to college, but have to finish high school first are ho's? Or are the black women living in the 'hood' right now providing for their families, but struggling to make ends meet (because the boyfriend or ex-husband didn't pay child support) are also "hos"? Are women who are living in the 'hood', but have a decent job and didn't go to college, are they too considered the hos?
During Imus's regular broadcasting time on Apr. 4, he said the phrase "nappy headed hos" to describe the team at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA )tournament playing against Tennessee.
What Imus said is by no way excusable, but it's not the first time statements listed as derogatory have been heard on our airways.
Rappers do it all the time. They do it in their music videos and it's definitely discriminatory against women, specifically black women. I am not saying that all rappers have filth filling the radio or cable waves. However, a huge majority of them do.
Would Imus have been right if he was in the entertainment industry? Should he have been with rapper Snoop Dogg?
In an interview Snoop Dogg did with MTV recently, he reportedly said that rap artists using the word "ho" in their lyrics means something completely different than what Imus meant.
He told MTV that rappers, "Are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--, that's trying to get a n---a for his money. These are two separate things."
Are they? Is he saying that young black women living in the 'hood' right now,aspiring to go to college, but have to finish high school first are ho's? Or are the black women living in the 'hood' right now providing for their families, but struggling to make ends meet (because the boyfriend or ex-husband didn't pay child support) are also "hos"? Are women who are living in the 'hood', but have a decent job and didn't go to college, are they too considered the hos?
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