Nappy-headed ... huh??

Let me first say that I am not a racist. And I totally support and celebrate minorities and those that fought diversity issues and rose up from a underprivileged life. Even so I will still probably take a lot of ribbing for this, but I cannot believe this thing over Don Imus.

Yeah, he said something really inappropriate. And offensive. No question about that. But did this incident deserve all this publicity? Did he deserve to be fired? He's a shock jock. He's made a career out of being offensive and pushing the envelope. And people eat it up. And the media outlets make a ton of money. Until advertisers start raising flags and pulling support and then the outlets decide to turn tail and cower.

And the African American or black (which is PC nowdays anyhow? - I've lost track) community actually perpetuate this type of inappropriate language by introducing it and proliferating it to begin with. It seems okay as part of the everyday, urban-ethnic lingo. I've heard those same words in popular box-office moneymakers - as well as worse from black music artists. But just wait for a white, 50-something, redneck-type male to slip and use some of those whizzers and it creates a total culture shock and he loses his job.

What about the Rutgers athletes? I'd be offended too, no doubt. But would I be "scarred for life?" Gimme a break. These black women student-athletes have fought diversity and minority issues all their lives and have met the challenges and excel. You'd think they'd have thicker skins than to be "scarred for life" by an insignificant white male whom they've never met and is known for his outlandish offensiveness, designed to create buzz.

AND ... the media just exploits this and perpetuates it further. Bringing it more to light so that people are aware of this type of language. And when you hear it over and again, it becomes part of your own vocabulary toolbox. Sitting in folders in the filing cabinet of your mind just waiting for a random opportunity for it to fly out of your own mouth in an inappropriate way. We don't typically use words we haven't heard before.