Time to tackle the real problem
Friday, April 13, 2007
CORMAC GORDON

OK, so they got Don Imus.

The big bosses at MSNBC and CBS shoved him right under the bus, quicker than you can say, "Sponsor cancellations."

And that's fine, as far as it goes.

Imus took a chance.

He made some nasty statements.

People were rightfully offended.

The Rev. Al Sharpton declared that what Imus said when discussing the Rutgers women's basketball team would not stand.

"We cannot afford a precedent established that the airwaves can commercialize and mainstream sexism and racism," he said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson agreed with him.

So did the Congressional Black Caucus.

So did a lot of walking-around, nobody-special American citizens everywhere from Hylan Boulevard to Sunset Strip.

Because of all the pressure -- and there was plenty of it from people like Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama to sponsors like Procter & Gamble Co. -- the bosses said enough is enough.


They canned Imus yesterday afternoon.

Kaput!

"You're gone."

That's how simple it is to decide who gets on the American airwaves when you are in charge of international, multi-media empires.

Imus can pack up his entourage over at the WFAN studios now. He'll move on to pay radio, I'm guessing.

Or -- and you would only hope he'd be this smart -- he can take his millions and retire quietly to wherever he chooses to and live a life.

THE HARD PART

But now that Imus is gone comes the hard part, as far I'm concerned.


That would be making something positive out of the entire, ugly, overblown episode.

The only way that will happen is if those same bosses at CBS and MSNBC, and those same leaders like Sharpton and Jackson and the Congressional Black Caucus, stand up and tell the truth.


That truth is this:

Don Imus may have been part of the debasing of American pop culture, but he was nowhere near as important in the downhill slide as a lot of other people.

I'm talking about those folks who write and produce and perform and market anti-Semitic rap, and put together misogynistic music videos.

They make movies that glorify violence and dehumanize women. They fill television and radio with junk that any serious professional psychologist or educator will tell you is having a negative effect on young people in this country.

You know that's the case.

I know it.

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson certainly know it.

THE MONEY

The people who run international, multi-media empires not only know of it, they are getting even richer than they already were from it.
Keep this in mind. Several different reports yesterday put the revenue generated by the "Imus Show" at $20 million last year.

Wall Street people say that is just 1 percent of what the CBS radio division alone does in sales. I guess that what people meant when they put the word "Big" into big business.)

Still, pop culture in America is like the 800-pound Gorilla in the room.

And that goes for blacks as well as whites. Few are willing to even acknowledge a problem exists, never mind trying their hand at changing the direction even a little.

Why?

Money and power are reasons.

But so is lack of courage.

How are you going to get JayZ's support on this or that issue if you go around slamming his product? How could you expect Snoop Dogg to answer your calls if you started telling Americans his music is a problem for their kids?

That's the problem.

But just think what could happen if everyone showed just a little more nerve?


We're not talking about calling for censorship of this or restricting of that. This isn't about protest marches and boycotts, either.

But what if Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson stood up and said that racist music is hurting kids. And that black mothers and fathers should at least try to keep it out of the house?

What if they said it all the time, and named names? What if, miracle of miracles, they actually went after one of the worst offenders?

Just to make a point?

Don't you think that would change things a little?

And what if the bosses at CBS and MSNBC said that the kind of stuff Imus has been getting away with on the radio is a thing of the past. That entertainers will just have to try and find another way to get laughs?

And what if they acted like they meant it?

That would also have to have an effect, wouldn't you say? I guess what I'm saying is, what if everyone with the power to make real difference shows a little collective bravery for once?

Wouldn't that be worth something?

Because if nothing comes of the last week then the whacking of Don Imus was just another somewhat tasteless pop culture media moment.


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With all the back and forth that's been going on in the news, on these talk shows, the different opinons, etc. I thought that this writer summed it up pretty well.