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Recently Reverend Jesse Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton have struck a blow against freedom of speech by attacking radio host Don Imus for a brief, supposedly racial, comment. They made enough noise so that the “politically correct” media fired Imus.
First of all, I want to make it clear that I’m no fan of racism of any kind. I do, however, very strongly advocate free speech. With that in mind, let’s look at the issues.
While growing up fifty years ago, kids learned an old saying: “Sticks and stones might break my bones but names will never hurt me.” This was a way of telling the children of that era not to worry about what others say; worry about what they do. In many cases, today’s media act like words are more important than actions. This causes people not to be themselves and actually fear using words when in public. Jackson and Sharpton try to induce fear into predominantly white public speakers to make them refrain from words that the blacks themselves use without incident.
I’ve never listened to Don Imus, but from what I’ve heard about him, I’d probably classify him as somewhat of a “jerk,” for lack of a better word. Even jerks have the right to be heard. It seems the word he used that stirred so much controversy was “ho.” The strange thing is, I’ve never heard the word before in that context, and I’m sure that many other white people haven’t either. Since this word was coined in the black community, a lot of white people wouldn’t even have known what Imus meant. After Jackson and Sharpton got through with their campaigns, everyone now knows that “ho” is one of those words that can only be misused by blacks without invoking the wrath of Jackson’s organization, “Operation Push.”
If we live together in peace, ignore our differences, especially skin color, we live in an integrated society. Racial harmony is best kept by ignoring minor things. What Imus said was such a minor incident, that it should have been handled by listener protest, and should never have gotten national media coverage. Stirring up racial tension makes our “politically correct” media the real racist. Organizations like “Operation Push” are the racial antagonists in our society, constantly stirring up social anxiety. It seems that the biggest racists of all make it a point to use racism as a political platform from which they attain wealth and power. In that way, Jackson and Sharpton are much bigger racists than Imus.
When such big protests are waged over one word, the issue of free speech is what is really being attacked. Such campaigns are designed to make us fear the use of inappropriate words, this then leads to fear of inappropriate topics, and ends with speakers sticking to the ideas spread by our corporate alien controlled society. This is like living in Nazi Germany or the former Soviet Union. There you could say anything you want as long as it fit the government agenda, otherwise it meant incarceration in a prison or mental institution. At least they didn’t put Imus in jail here. If we’re not careful, this may be the next step in the enforcement of “political correctness.” Remember, that under current U.S. law, minor drug crimes and copyright violations sometimes incur larger prison sentences than murder. Maybe in the future, words like “ho” or the “n” word if used by white speakers could mean a mandatory minimum of ten years in a federal prison.
There appears to be some discrimination when it comes to what late night comedians say. NBC late night host, Jay Leno, recently compared Prince Charles’ wife Camilla Parker Bowles to a horse in the Kentucky Derby. It seems, that because Jay doesn’t like Camilla’s looks, he feels obligated to constantly use her as the object of his jokes. To me this is much more offensive than anything Imus said. Many of the sponsors of Imus’ radio show quickly canceled after being informed of his remark. Late night hosts working for all the networks are constantly hurling insults at many celebrities. Some, like the insults of Lady Camilla, are particularly demeaning. Where are the sponsors of Leno’s Tonight Show? Apparently, only jokes labeled as racial are considered disgusting enough to warrant any action.
Even though I don’t like some of Jay’s comments, I understand that’s what free speech is about. If the audience likes what they hear, they support the show, otherwise, the show’s ratings fall and it goes off the air. Free speech does include raunchy jokes. Why, then, are the raunchy jokes of Jay Leno much more tolerated than the raunchy jokes of Don Imus? Is this fair? In order to have true free speech we must be able to tolerate any comedian’s jokes no matter how despicable.
Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton are the corporate aliens assigned to spin the race card and make sure that “political correctness” prevails even as other injustices thrive. They want to make sure that the “white” race and the “black” race never blend into the “human” race by constantly reminding us of our individual skin color. They are the equivalent of “Free Speech Nazis.”
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