Imus Update, Representation

So Don Imus' comments were made to present a sarcastic point....right. I still don't think they were good or necessary and could have been presented much better if that in fact was the case. Not to mention his producers and the people that work for him say its OK. That's nice. Another case where one black person speaks for black people, and for that matter all people who could be offended telling everybody there is no cause for concern.

I was listening to NPR a about a month and a half ago,I heard a piece on Bertie H. Bowman author of 'Step by Step'. One particular excerpt from the book that played on NPR talked about how Strom Thurmond, a deceased former senator of South Carolina helped him get into Howard University. Another recollection talks about Senator Fulbright another politician that was a staunch supporter of segregation. Bowman says that in his time an aide for the senators in D.C. he made friends with all of them. Now they helped him get an education and helped him out with letters and opportunities and all of that. This is very nice. But the overwhelming message of the two senators I mentioned was segregation.

I reference this because to Mr. Bowman those two senators who opposed many of the integrated things we have today, were his friends. But to a much larger majority of black and other sectors of America, these guys were the supporters of the most fundamental hypocrisy and evil of this country. And to the guys that work for Imus he has probably also helped them out a lot and is helping to further their careers.

By no means am I calling these people tokens. But its like this. You're going to defend and support and stand by people who have your back. And even if they are wrong you tend to empathize or understand where they are coming from more acutely than the guy on the outside. Everybody does it. Its human nature. But there are two problems with this.

Don Imus shouldn't have been stupid enough to make such a comment without thinking it through or making it clear that he was being sarcastic and joking, because in sound-bite society--anybody can look like anything. Not to mention he has history of being a one of the most culturally competent and sensitive people around. See Don that's sarcasm.

Secondly, in America, the thoughts of one black person are the thoughts of all black people. So Al Sharpton comes out and gives thumbs up or thumbs down that's what black people think. If Willie at the job (ironically my dads name is Willie, so when comedians use Willie at the job that all the white people like, it hits home LOL) says yea or nay that's what all black people think. And if you also follow comedy, every white person always references their one black friend whenever in any kind of race related trouble for something they said or did. So I'm going to assume based on this and being the one black friend that is asked to represent all black people that they will say "since those black people that work for Imus don't have a problem with it so they must not care overall.

I'm not totally right about this, but I'm more right than I want or should be :(