Re: Should Imus resign?
Tim Wise on Imus: [URL="http://www.lipmagazine.org/%7Etimwise/Imus.html"]http://www.lipmagazine.org/~timwise/Imus.html[/URL]
[quote] [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=5][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=4][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Or, my favorite, as regards the Imus matter: "Yeah, Imus was wrong to say what he said, but the people criticizing him, like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, are even worse." One has to wonder what white folks would do if Jackson and Sharpton weren't around; who would we have to divert attention from our own biases? Attacking these two is the default position of white America whenever one of ours does something wrong: "Well what about Jackson? What about Sharpton?" This is then followed by a reminder of the former's "Hymietown" statement, and the latter's involvement in the Tawana Brawley affair.
[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=5][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=4][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]But even if one accepts the standard white critique of Jackson and Sharpton, the argument nonetheless amounts to a colossal failure to apply "personal responsibility" logic to oneself and one's community. It is yet another attempt by whites to change the subject. Not to mention, both men's past foibles exacted a price from them as well, from which it took several years to recover. It's not as if they received a free pass, and to be sure, had either man had a radio show at the time, there is no doubt that they too would have been canned by their employers for making racist, or anti-Semitic comments. Twenty-three years later, Jackson's comments about New York still haunt him, and no doubt had an impact on his political career, for example. As with Jackson and Sharpton, Imus should be able to redeem himself over time, to be sure. But as with both men, he shouldn't expect redemption to happen immediately, and without first paying a price.
[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=5][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=4][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]And truthfully, to say that Sharpton and Jackson are more offensive than Imus is almost incomprehensible. On the one hand you have two men who have spent their entire adult lives in the struggle for equal rights. On the other, you have a talk show host whose career has been about offending people and pushing the boundaries of good taste. A man who told [I]60 minutes[/I] in 1998 that he hired his co-host, specifically to tell "nigger jokes." A man who calls tennis star Amelie Mauresmo a "big lesbo" on air. A man whose contribution to the world amounts to shocking people in morning drive time. Hardly comparable to registering voters, fighting for civil rights, running empowerment organizations that seek to build community unity, or any of the other endeavors in which Jackson and Sharpton have been involved.
[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=5][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=4][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]But here's the bigger truth: if white folks are tired of seeing Jackson and Sharpton out front whenever white racism rears its ugly head, there's an easy way to solve that problem. Namely, all we have to do is [I]do the work ourselves[/I]! If whites were willing to stand up and unapologetically, and without equivocation, condemn the racism in our community--following the lead of grass-roots folks of color with names far less known than the two men in question--perhaps Jackson and Sharpton wouldn't have to be the ones leading the rally. Maybe they could take a break. Maybe they could get a much-needed and earned vacation. But that's the problem: most whites do nothing in the face of racism. Most of us don't speak up, don't talk back, don't challenge family, friends, colleagues, or anyone else when they engage is racist actions or merely tell racist jokes. We sit back and remain largely silent, or condemn but only with caveats included. No wonder black leaders like Jackson and Sharpton end up being the visible faces of resistance: we aren't showing up at all, so what are they supposed to do?
[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=5][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=4][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]At the end of the day, it is white silence and collaboration that has always made racism--whether of the personal or institutional type--possible. If whites had, in larger numbers, joined with folks of color to challenge white supremacy, there is no way that such a system could have been maintained. There is no way that racist persons would be able to spew their venom without fear of reprisal, in most cases. They would know that such verbiage, or racist actions would be met forcefully, and that those engaging in such things would be ostracized. But white silence and inaction has given strength to the racists, whether on radio or in corporate offices, or government positions, or police uniforms; it has emboldened them to act out, since they have long had little reason to believe anything would happen. Slaveowners would have been powerless had the whites who didn't own slaves stood up to them and challenged their evil; so too with segregationists, those who lynched thousands of blacks from the late 1800s to the early 60s, and those who engage in discrimination today. The silent and passive collaborators with injustice are just as bad as those who do the deed, and have always been such. And too often, those folks have been [I]us[/I].
[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=5][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=4][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial, helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Only when whites decide to connect with the alternative tradition of resistance, as opposed to collaboration, will things change. Only when we choose to take our place in the line--however much longer it should be--of antiracist white allies, will we be in a position to lecture folks of color on how they come at the issue. And even then, we'll have far more to learn than to teach in that regard. But until that time, and for however long white folks decide to remain on the sidelines in this struggle, our entitlement to say much of anything sideways to the Jacksons or Sharptons of the world will remain virtually non-existent. Pay some dues, and then maybe you can talk. Until then, shut it down. [/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
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