Monday, April 09, 2007

Rutgers Women Like Rubber And Imus Like Glue

The best thing about what happens when loudmouthed boobs like Don Imus stick their boots into their pie holes is that they end up the ones looking far worse than the folks they were trying to disparage.

Imus, who said some nasty things about the Rutgers University womens basketball team, calling them a "bunch of nappy-headed hos" last week, apologized Friday. And he was contrite again this morning, and seeing him talk on MSNBC during the simulcast of his radio show, he seemed sincere.

But it's Imus, and not the Rutgers female basketballers, who looks bad here.

I've always been under the belief that name-calling shouldn't, really, bother the one(s) being called the names, because if you know you're not what they're calling you, then who cares?

Do the Rutgers women believe they're "nappy-headed hos"? Of course not. Was it wrong for Imus to call them that? Of course. But the Rutgers ladies shouldn't let it bother them too much, because it's presumed that they have higher self-esteem than that. Should they really care what someone like Imus thinks of them? Or should they be more concerned with how they think of themselves?

It's always this way, and it should be: the name-caller's credibility and image shrinks when he or she engages in that sort of behavior. And the one(s) being slandered usually come off as sympathetic, pristine figures.

But there's usually more behind these things than just the name-calling itself. Typically the outrageous comments either thinly veil deeper-seated beliefs, or at the very least, the issuer simply doesn't know how to engage in self-censorship. Either way, it's more often than not more than just a random, egregious remark made off the cuff. In Imus's instance, it would appear that he has some sort of resentment toward black athletes, especially female ones. Why else would he say such a thing on national radio/TV?

Regardless, here's hoping that the Rutgers womens hoopsters don't take any of Imus's dreck to heart. They should let his words roll off their hard-working backs.

And let the "I-Man" take all the well-deserved heat.

"Those girls didn't deserve what I said," Imus said this morning.

No. But he deserves all the fallout.

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