^The C^^mpass ^
^ The Award Winning Student Newspaper
VOL. 72, NO. 6 CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATING SENIORS APRIL 16, 2007
WHEN ALL Else Fails, Blame Hip Hop
Photos Courtesy of Getty Images
By Keisha Hill
Editor-at-large
I vaguely knew
of Don Imus prior to the
firestorm of controversy
surrounding his com
ments about the women’s
basketball team from
Rutgers. Imus’ show only
entered my airwaves on
the rare occasion when I
flipped past his simulcast
on my way to another
channel. But now he has
infiltrated every channel,
all times throughout the
day, and if anyone did no
know who he was — they
do now.
When I heard the
words “jiggaboo”, “hard
core hos” and the now
infamous words heard
around the globe - “nappy
headed hos” being played
in constant rotation as if it
were a re-released single
from Bey once’s “B-day’'
album, I was stunned,
but my astonishment was
not beyond belief. It was
clearly one of those “did
he say what I thought he
said?” moments. But
why are we shocked that
there are those that feel
this way about black
people?
In his lame at
tempt at having a comic
relief moment, Imus’
poisonous diatribe man
aged to escape the white
players on the team. His
omission solidified for
many of us that he had
underlining racist tenden
cies. Yet, there are some
who will say, “Well, he
said the players fi"om Ten
nessee were nice look
ing,” as if that gives him
a get out of the racist cor
ner pass. In my opinion
that is parallel to saying,
“You’re a pretty woman
to be black.”
fetched in any way to
think that racism and
sexism are still alive in
America. We see it on a
daily basis. It is not hard
to believe there is a seg
ment of America that still
has a “good ole boy” with
the Confederate flag fly
ing high mentality. It is a
wonderful notion that
people of all races can
stand and hold hands as
one, but such is not the
case.
Afi*ican Ameri
cans may no longer be
reduced to being forced to
pick cotton, or be con
sidered three-fourths of
a human being, and the
signs saying FOR COL
ORED PEOPLE may be
gone, but there are issues
of race this country still
needs to face. The el
ephant is still in the room,
and unless we do some
thing now, it will more
than likely remain there
until the end of time.
Imus is definitely in good
company in his limited
views as it is apparent by
the vast listening audi
ence he had accumulated.
The shock jock earned
over $ 10 million per
year talking negatively
about African Americans,
women, gays, and handi
capped persons. Accord
ing to CNN Money, Imus
accounted for about $20
million in ad sales for
CBS last year.
As Imus and his
producer, Bernard Mc-
Guirk tossed back and
forth disparaging remarks
at the expense of the
Rutgers team, there was
segment of America that
laughed in unison with
them.
je^ imus page 4