Imus Comment
Deborah Venable
04/16/07
Before
the recent media storm, (another descriptor for the storm comes to mind but I
dare not use it) I barely knew who Don Imus was, and I do not lead a sheltered
life. I doubt that there are many who
do not recognize his name today. It has
been another one of those stories, like the Anna Nicole Smith fiasco, that
dominated far too much media time, but the fallout from it promises to be
serious.
The
most interesting fact about the whole thing is not that a rich white guy has
been persecuted with a double standard, but that liberals and conservatives
alike find themselves on the same page – either for or against Imus. An honest assessment of the situation shows
that racial issues will always fall within the parameters of both
philosophies. Race isn’t philosophical
no matter how much one side or the other wishes to define it as such.
I
have long balked at the attitudes being expressed in today’s culture so freely,
which serve only to degrade a race or gender of people, especially when
individuals are singled out to be defined with unflattering slurs. If we could ever just agree that Americans
should not be defined by their race or prior heritage, so many social problems
would be eliminated. There must be a
lot more give and take on the issue before we can come to that agreement, but
perhaps we stand on the edge of truly understanding what America is all about
now.
For
those who are not aware, Don Imus has been a useful tool of the liberal philosophy
for decades now. To a lesser degree
moderates from both sides of the political aisle have utilized him as well, but
for the large majority of mainstream America, Imus has flown under the radar. He has not been a household name, thus his
speech and actions, along with his good works, have gone unabated – until
now.
The
same excuse cannot be made for others given a free pass for their objectionable
language or actions in exchange for their good works. We need only to tune into the modern youth community to hear and
see examples of language much worse than Imus used, and it is all sanctioned by
the almighty dollar in today’s entertainment industry.
The
whole “free speech” issue is a joke in this argument. My mother and father always taught me that there are some things
you just don’t say to or about other people if you are a good person – not
without consequences anyway. Am I the
only one ever taught that lesson?
My
oldest daughter manages a store in a chain of stores here in the southeast. Just last week an unhappy customer called her
a whore to her face. This woman
proceeded to fling this most serious of accusations at my daughter without a
thought of how it would be received.
Now, you must understand that this customer was unhappy because she had
been caught shoplifting and my daughter was called to the front of the store to
“handle” the situation. This is not an
isolated incident. It happens pretty
much on a regular basis. These days if
you work with the public, you had better expect it and get used to it.
Had
my daughter chosen to take an Al Sharpton/Jessie Jackson stance and fling back
some equally disgusting remark that the race or character of her accuser
probably caused the accusation, I am sure that she would have been fired on the
spot – shoplifter or not. But she
wasn’t brought up that way.
In
the end, freedom of speech or anything else comes with a price. For far too long too many have refused to
pay the price, thus, our speech has become a deficit to our overall character. Those with sins should not proceed to throw
stones lest they bounce off the walls we place in their path and come back to
hit (or haunt) us.