The Mercenaries of Racism

Don Imus played right into the trap that Al Sharpton set for him by appearing on Mr. Sharpton's syndicated radio show to ask forgiveness for the stupid, misogynist, racist remarks that he made on MSNBC. Mr. Imus made matters worse by groveling for 1 ½ hours on Mr. Sharpton's show. Mr. Imus, as a result of public outcry and protests led by the dubious efforts of Mr. Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, has been fired from both MSNBC and CBS Radio essentially ending his 30+ year career in radio.

The media in all of its encompassing hypocrisy and greed, have succumbed again to the terrorist tactics employed by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. These "ministers of God" do not possess the moral integrity to accept repeated apologies by Mr. Imus, and instead have led the crusade to have Mr. Imus banished forever from radio and television. They want the public dialogue about this matter to be handled on their own myopic terms, not the way it could've potentially been handled by turning something negative into something positive. Mr. Imus is still intent on meeting with the Rutgers women's basketball team to follow through with the face to face apology these women deserve.

It is a well known fact that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do not speak for blacks in this country. Most black people are embarrassed by them and wish they would just go away. All of a sudden Mr. Sharpton in all of his disingenuous glory wants to expand this crusade to include an investigation into gangster rap and hip-hop music. What investigation? All you have to do is listen to some of the vile, repugnant, misogynist, hate-filled, ultra-violent "lyrics" that are rapped on MTV music videos, pressed on to CDs and DVDs, played over the public airwaves, are part of movie soundtracks and the investigation is over. All of this has become mainstream and an accepted disgrace in American culture. Why don't black people and their leaders take responsibility for the demeaning of their culture by their own people? When was the last time black leaders took a high profile public stand to speak out about the desecration of their women by stupid street thugs? Do they condone this kind of abhorrent behavior? Most whites do not know how blacks feel about this, because both blacks and whites were taught not to interact with each other, and we were also taught to be suspicious of each other's motives. Not very fertile ground for meaningful discussions.

Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson have a sordid history of running around the country like racist mercenaries setting racial fires and leaving them to be extinguished by others. Mr. Jackson should be down at Duke University begging the Duke Lacrosse players for forgiveness in regard to the vicious accusations and racist comments he made about them. Instead, he and Mr. Sharpton are too busy lining their pockets with the fruits of their dishonesty. If you compared the accomplishments of Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton to those of Malcom X and Martin Luther King, you would find that they've done nothing at all to advance the causes that black people cared/care about through the years, and are struggling with in 2007. An argument could be made that they have set back the advances made since the 1965 Civil Rights Act.

Don Imus cannot be singled out as the cause of this racial dialogue and public discourse, or as the sole perpetrator of the coarseness in our culture. He's the scapegoat, and not responsible for the cause. MSNBC and CBS Radio are willing victims of the extortion tactics practiced by Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson. You don't have to be a nuclear physicist to realize that this is all due to the loss of advertising revenue, threats, ratings, and pure greed. The hypocrisy of the politicians, authors, columnists, and newsmakers who appeared on Imus' show in the past and are now condemning him, his advertisers, and of his former employers is only a glimpse into a culture that is willing to cannibalize each other in order to thrive and prosper.

This is not about Don Imus, MSNBC, CBS, Al Sharpton, or Jesse Jackson. It's about our continuing failure as a society to deal with problems that still exist about race and racism in this country. If there is anything positive that can possibly emerge from this, it would be for us to begin a meaningful public dialogue that will finally address old wounds and attempt to heal new ones.

Ric Larson
a.k.a. Persecution Smith

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