IMUS, DUKE, AND THE "N" WORD THROUGH A CHILD'S EYES

It was perfect timing really. I was riding the subway in Manhattan about ten days before Don Imus' crude sports commentary, standing near two young Hispanic youths, one male, one female. Nothing really distinct about them, the male good-looking and sporting neatly coiffed cornrows, the female attractive, but slightly disheveled in baggy sweater that showed some midriff.

They looked younger than their 18 years -- that was the age she said she was after proudly proclaiming that she "at least waited until then" to have her baby. He was ribbing her about how many of her friends had kids at ages of 17, 16 and 14. So she had reason to be proud. She even crowed that her "baby daddy" helped her support the child with money. He countered, "Nah, if I get one of these women pregnant, I ain't giving them no money. I'll buy some Pampers, maybe some sneakers, but they ain't gettin' my money." These kids did not appear to the the "hardcore, bad ass, scary" ghetto urchins people fear on the subway. On the whole they spoke good English and in clear terms, punctuated with street slang.

This until the "word" slipped out. Yep, the "N" word, which they repeated several times, while laughing and talking. Though their skin was about as brown as mine, they clearly would be what most would classify as Hispanic. Like often with young people they used the word not in a derogatory way towards Black people, but as an adjective to describe behavior or as a synonym for person. As I've said before I am not one to franchise the word Nigger (or nigga) to other races or age groups, nor do I think we can redefine it.

But then something interesting occurred. The female said to the male, "Hey you better watch your language, you can't say that no more." "I know," he replied, "you can get arrested for saying it now. At least get a fine." This refers to the New York City Council ruling that the "N" word is bad. Bravo.

"That's the old people," she said. "They use it for something bad. It's funny, when white people used it to hurt Black people, there wasn't no law against it. "

"Yeah," he said, " You know what? Next Black History Month we should all say it, every day -- call each other niggas in protest. I can't imagine no white people getting arrested for saying it, they will just use the law against us young people."

"Yeah, I wish they would arrest some white people for saying it!"

Which brings us to Mr. Imus who called a fine group of young women, "nappy headed hos." Although he has lost his MSNBC television simulcast and garnered a two-week paid suspension I doubt we will see him in hand cuffs.

What is interesting here is not only what he said, but the reaction to it -- and the impact. The latter will be hard to estimate, only time will tell.

As to what Imus said, two things come to mind: Did he not believe that it would cause harm? Or did he not care? And most importantly -- why wasn't he afraid to say it? Afraid not only of repercussions from his networks, but from the Black community, women and others who felt offended. There was a time (circa late 1960s and most of the '70s) when this kind of banter would be heard only in lily white bars by guys swilling Budweiser and looking at the TV set between gulps. There was a time when the station would have been besieged by demonstrators -- not all of them peaceful pickets -- almost immediately. I mean some folks would've skipped work. A colleague of mine who used to work the Black radio "chitlin' circuit" in the deep south as a DJ and engineer, said that when one station declined to hire Black staff a group of Blacks interrupted the station's board meeting and made a not so veiled threat to burn the transmitter down. I'm not recommending that this happen, but hey -- they did get a meeting with the board.

But ever since the fires of the civil rights movement have died down, the right wing, the religious conservatives and the just plain racists have been emboldened. This started with Ronald Reagan, whose best performance was putting a smiley face on the vilest of attitudes in this country by blowing up balloons and waving flags. A real American. This man who the media made its darling, succumbing to his Hollywood charms, went so far as to kick off his election campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi. A town of a few thousand only known outside the county as the place where in 1964 the decaying bodies of three civil rights workers who were brutally murdered for the crime of registering Blacks to vote were dug out of the swamp. Two white, one Black in their early 20s. There is absolutely no other historical or cultural distinction of Philadelphia, Mississippi. Of all the landscapes of America from sea to shining sea, Reagan selected this one. A nod and a wink to the old south.

Reagan went on to create an America that never existed. He said he wanted to restore America to its previous glory, even though that glory included slavery, Jim Crow laws, land grabbing and virtual extinction of Native Americans and a pattern of institutional discrimination that still exists. Add to that the lack of guts and vision the Democrats and the left have displayed over the past 30 years and the Ol' Gipper had a clear path to the goal of making it alright to exhibit white privilege. A smart strategy it was, because no hard-working, barely making mortgage payments, white factory worker will ever believe that he/she is "privileged." But they will see affirmative action hires, snappy-dressing Black TV news anchors, Condolessa Rice, over-paid athletes that sure don't act like Willie Mays and Floyd Patterson and of course, the rappers who flaunt the law along with their bling, broads and pimped out rides. Hey, a white guy deserves to be pissed.

So Don Imus, starting in the big time during the tail end of the '70s, plays on this feeling like Reagan did: The Blacks have had enough and its time for us to take the country back. So you target Blacks and other persons of color as well as women and Democrats, etc. So it provides a place to ridicule, insult and discredit people and organizations in a safe haven. Very important, because Imus' listeners would not dream of saying this aloud around Black people. But it feeds their fantasy of standing up to the Blacks, which developed into a political strategy for people such as former NYC Mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani. Many others do it also, across the country. They espouse seemingly liberal views publicly, but in those small rooms and venues where they preach to the converted, they let their audiences know, that they will protect them from the Blacks.

Tune in every morning and release your anger and feeling of impotence in the face of athletes, rappers and menacing teenagers on the subways and buses by listening to Imus dehumanize them.

Imus has spawned quite a following, being the first real shock jock along with his then side kick Howard Stern. There is at least one in every major market. Mostly they are not at all as funny or smart as Imus, just cheap knock offs. Oh yes, Imus is smart. Which is why this seems so strange. I could see this coming from the mouths of one of imitators -- or even some Black jocks on rap stations. But after all this time and experience? Unless he wants out of his recently renewed 5-year multi-million dollar contract, something inside him must have triggered this.

The reaction was predictable: some whites in the media showed outrage and asked for his head. Even a few conservatives, after all such a clear violation is a marvelous chance to not look like a racist. Then there are the white guys who defend Imus based on freedom of speech, a great way to hide the fact that they liked what he said. Many of them cite the fact that rappers use this language frequently -- and they do. Others dug back and dusted off the files about Rev. Jesse Jackson's use of the word "Hymietown" referring to New York City's large Jewish population, and Rev. Al Sharpton's role in the Tawana Brawley unproven rape case. Maybe they'll even want to investigate whether the last Super Bowl was part of a conspiracy to insure that both coaches would be Black.

On the money side, the sponsors were either ahead of the pack -- like Staples, Bigelow Teas and Proctor & Gamble who immediately withdrew their ads from the show; or behind it -- like American Express, GM and others who came later. Many are still waiting to see how significant the reaction will be. Interestingly, the New York Times each day has had an Imus story on its front page and then jumps it to the Business Section. How fitting.

On Wednesday, the Times along with the New York Daily News, ran a compelling photo of Rutgers basketball team members on their front pages. The News referred to them as "dignified." Not to be picky, but you have to look pretty darn hard to find when the word "dignified" -- compliment that it is -- was last used about a white person. If so, they were senior citizens.

The New York Post today, (speaking of dignified!) chose to run a huge page one photo of the woman who accused the Duke University Lacrosse players of rape, apparently falsely. It referred to her as the "Duke liar."

So the fair haired boys got cleared -- actually proven innocent which is rare. Good news if there was no crime. But that shouldn't take Imus out of the spotlight, nor should it lessen the heat.

And by the way, have the parents or Duke administrators asked these future leaders why such Big Men on Campus have the need to send out for strippers like its Domino's Pizza? And why did they want Black girls? To feed some BET video fantasy of rap hos? Haven't they seen the "Girls Gone Wild" infomercials that feature an array of white (yes they are all white) co-eds willingly stripping and more for the camera? They could have stayed in their own demographic.

And why are Black girls getting themselves into these situations? Are white guys "safer?" Is it that they have more money? Would they have gone to a predominantly Black Basketball team party and strip?

Race in America is as complex as it gets. It even trumps gender issues. Now the discussion begins about language, freedom of speech, and respect. And that includes rappers and Black DJs. If you go after Imus, they must be in your parallax view as well, they have played a role in opening the barn door.

Kids shouldn't be pregnant at 18 hoping that baby daddy helps with the Pampers. They shouldn't be using the "N" word casually. But boy, didn't they raise an interesting point about trying to criminalize it. At least, they were paying attention.