I think the thing that caught up Imus wasn't the fact that he was using disrespectful language – either the racial or the sexist aspects – but the fact that he was picking on people who didn't have a clear platform to reply. If he had used the same expression in reference to a political figure, for example, the politicians' allies would be howling, and the politicians' foes would be snickering quietly – and the politician would have a chance to get in front of the media to denounce an idiot, which is an opportunity politicians generally find useful.
Instead, he picked on a college basketball team, which had essentially no media voice other than televised games, until general-public outrage at the idiot sent the media looking for the team for comment.
If I'm a politician, my public image is my job. But if I'm a college athlete, going to school is my primary job, playing sports is my secondary job, and dealing with my public image is limited to how I behave during games, unless I seek a wider public image. With his idiotic remark, Imus dumped the business of broader public image onto the student athletes, without any consideration for the fact that they may have had no interest in a public face other than their sports appearances.
I often pick on political figures over policy, which is perfectly fair. (Picking on a basketball team for bad basketball would also be fair.) Sometimes I pick on political figures as individuals too. That's not as fair, except that they often bring themselves into debates along with their political positions. (In other words, if a politician argues their issues on their claims of public benefit, they're off limits personally. But if they assert that an issue is a matter of moral correctness, attacks on their individual moral character are suddenly fair.) They're also fair game for comedy, such as in this piece I wrote four years ago. (Apologies for the self-promoting plug.)
Finally, a lot of other comments have asked the related question of why it's OK for rappers and the like to use similarly racial and sexist language, but not for Imus. Some assert a double standard – blacks can say "n.....", while whites can't. That's true to an extent – I'm even censoring myself by that rule, after all – but that's not the main point that applies in this case. The difference here is that rappers seem to use offensive words in offensive contexts, but without offense directed at specific individuals, particularly specific individuals who aren't public figures except in a very limited part of their lives.
In other words, if a rapper had included offensive language that named Rutgers basketball women, they'd be in the same trouble Imus is. But normally they stick to offensive language about broad, vague groups instead of specific people, or sometimes about public figures.
no subject
Instead, he picked on a college basketball team, which had essentially no media voice other than televised games, until general-public outrage at the idiot sent the media looking for the team for comment.
If I'm a politician, my public image is my job. But if I'm a college athlete, going to school is my primary job, playing sports is my secondary job, and dealing with my public image is limited to how I behave during games, unless I seek a wider public image. With his idiotic remark, Imus dumped the business of broader public image onto the student athletes, without any consideration for the fact that they may have had no interest in a public face other than their sports appearances.
I often pick on political figures over policy, which is perfectly fair. (Picking on a basketball team for bad basketball would also be fair.) Sometimes I pick on political figures as individuals too. That's not as fair, except that they often bring themselves into debates along with their political positions. (In other words, if a politician argues their issues on their claims of public benefit, they're off limits personally. But if they assert that an issue is a matter of moral correctness, attacks on their individual moral character are suddenly fair.) They're also fair game for comedy, such as in this piece I wrote four years ago. (Apologies for the self-promoting plug.)
Finally, a lot of other comments have asked the related question of why it's OK for rappers and the like to use similarly racial and sexist language, but not for Imus. Some assert a double standard – blacks can say "n.....", while whites can't. That's true to an extent – I'm even censoring myself by that rule, after all – but that's not the main point that applies in this case. The difference here is that rappers seem to use offensive words in offensive contexts, but without offense directed at specific individuals, particularly specific individuals who aren't public figures except in a very limited part of their lives.
In other words, if a rapper had included offensive language that named Rutgers basketball women, they'd be in the same trouble Imus is. But normally they stick to offensive language about broad, vague groups instead of specific people, or sometimes about public figures.