Fire Imus?

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Do you equate what he said with hate speech. In other words, do you automatically infer intentional hate in that speech. I am just curious. I do not. I think he was joking and had no hate in his heart. The reason I ask is because I think if most people could sep. the two, then there might not be such an uproar. I think this is an interesting point - does a white person using those words (and not ever ni**er) in jest automatically equate to hate speech. Clearly, the same standard does not apply to black people saying the same thing.

Does racism inside of him equate to hate.

I hinestly do not know the answer. I tend to say it does not. But, want to hear other peoples' thoughts.

Good question. And no, I don't equate what he said with hate speech. I am saying it was racist. A racist comment doesn't have to be hateful; i.e., it doesn't mean someone is saying that black people should be hurt, killed, etc.

To me, a racist statement means demeaning a person or a group of people specifically because of their race. In this case, Imus singled out these women for being black women and made a comment that lowered and disrespected their status, their abilities, their accomplishments, and their place in society simply because of their race. I don't think he hates them. But I think he believes he is better than them and of a different status. And that all came out in those few words.

I think it is usually obvious when someone is really joking. And I do think that when people are speaking of other people in their own community, many times it really is joking. Like when I dish about "queens"---I'm just as much a queen as anyone else. But there is something really wrong about this white dude who doesn't appear to have any real credibility or connection to the black community making these comments. Something very not funny to me. Not hateful--just wrong.