The Rev. Al Sharpton has shown again that he is against the free marketplace of ideas. A few months ago, Sharpton joined others in wanting to ban the “n-word” after comedian Michael Richards used the slur against hecklers. As I explained in an earlier article, this movement to ban the n-word is illogical. Comedians like Chris Rock and George Carlin have used the word in their routines, which reinforces the point that context should dictate whether a word is racist. Furthermore, to focus on only one racial slur is racist in itself.
But Sharpton is at it again. Radio talk show host Don Imus recently made controversial remarks directed at Rutgers’ women’s basketball team: “That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos. That’s some nappy-headed hos there, I’m going to tell you that now.”
Imus’ comments came directly after the women’s basketball team lost a championship game. The players claim that the remarks deeply offended them. Sophomore forward Heather Zurich said, “Our moment was taken away – our moment to celebrate our success, our moment to realize how far we had come, both on and off the court, as young women. We were stripped of this moment by degrading comments by Mr. Imus last Wednesday. What hurts the most about this situation is that Mr. Imus knows not one of us personally.”
After being suspended two weeks for his remarks, Imus appeared on Sharpton’s radio show and apologized. Sharpton implied the apology wasn’t enough, saying that Imus should be fired.
Yesterday, Sharpton and others got their wish. Imus was fired.
First, it’s funny that Sharpton didn’t think the apology was enough. Although he didn’t accept Michael Richards’ apology, Richards arguably made a more offensive remark.
Oh yeah, and Sharpton is supposed to be a man of God.
Personally, I think it’s OK for Sharpton to think that Imus should be fired. However, at the same time, Sharpton needs to step down from his pedestal as a religious leader. He is a terrible example of a follower of Christ.
Actually, I take that back. Sharpton shouldn’t step down from his position just as Imus shouldn’t be fired from his. Why? It’s this neat idea called the free marketplace of ideas.
Obviously, I disagree with Imus’ remarks. I don’t know any of the players, so I can’t say anything about their personal lives. Moreover, the remarks were highly inappropriate on ethical grounds.
However, before we condemn a man for what he said, we should look at the context of the language.
It’s no secret that radio talk show hosts like Imus generate controversial statements on a regular basis. That’s how these hosts make a living. If they’re too boring, the station ditches them.
Another point is that people have different standards concerning appearances. Some people believe tattoos signify trashiness or roughness. Is this viewpoint correct? Probably not, but this is the free marketplace of ideas nonetheless. Likewise, some people associate nappy hair with sexual promiscuity. Again, this viewpoint is not logically sound. Yet nobody has the right to tell someone that he or she can’t hold an opinion.
One must compare the free marketplace of ideas to a free economical market. Ideas are like goods, and they are distributed by various merchants. And like goods, ideas will become popular and unpopular.
Therefore, Imus shouldn’t be fired for having ideas. He should be fired if his ideas don’t work in the market. After all, the radio stations are the ones calling the shots and making the money.
If everyone could lose their positions over their ideas, nobody would have jobs.
But the free marketplace really can’t be totally free. Otherwise, news networks could reveal military secrets, and millions of lives would be put at risk. Or people could spread lies about each other, causing each other to lose jobs among other things. So the next question is, Did Imus step over that line?
As much as I disagree with his comments, I don’t think so.
First, Americans should know by now what to expect from these radio talk-show hosts. The hosts routinely use hyperbole and controversy to generate ratings. If these remarks were made by a news team, they would be more threatening because news is supposed to be objective and truthful.
Second, people other than Imus believe that tattoos and certain hairstyles signify roughness and/or promiscuous behavior. This viewpoint is an obvious opinion because a) no one has verified the factuality of such a claim, and b) no one really knows what kind of private behavior other people perform.
Third, Imus’ remarks may have upset the women’s basketball team, but thousands of messages every day upset people. It upsets the hell out of me that we let Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and John McCain lie to us on national television. In other words, if we’re going to take down one person for upsetting people, we should take down everyone who says something stupid or controversial. Furthermore, the women have not lost their jobs due to these remarks, nor will their communities look at them any differently.
Fourth, I doubt that the basketball team would be as upset if it had won the championship game. Although I understand that these women don’t appreciate detrimental comments about their character or race, the sting wouldn’t be as bad if they were champions. Some of this reaction could have stemmed from losing the ball game and being in a sensitive mood in general.
Fifth, I’m not convinced Imus is actually a racist. He tried to explain the context of his language: “I’m not thinking it’s a racial insult that’s being uttered at somebody at the time. It’s in the process of trying to rap and be funny.” This comment seems to have at least some validity. Rappers often use words like “hos” in their lyrics. I can’t prove that Imus is sincere, but nobody else has scientifically verified that he’s a real racist.
For anyone who is interested in real racism instead of silly disputes over language, check out the book “American Apartheid,” by Massey and Denton. This scholarly work indicates how blacks have been segregated from whites more than any other race – even after the government supposedly eliminated housing segregation.
It would be beneficial if protest groups, the media and Sharpton would speak about racist acts that affect millions of American families instead of the ramblings of ordinary radio hosts. Then everyone could see how powerful the marketplace of ideas can be.