the other night, i caught a part of a show on… the history channel? ...concerning the history of marijuana legislation.  i was previously unaware of the racist nature of the prohibition effort.  the term “marihuana” being used to further emphasize the corollation between mexicans and ~drugs~.  that it coincided with a time that the us was attempting to rid itself of those pesky mexicans wasn’t just a coincidence. 

the topic itself was interesting, but even more interesting was how much of the rhetoric used then is being used now in the current “debate” on immigration: “newly arrived foreigners were blamed for the sprawling urban slums, depressed paychecks, and labor unrest"… sound familiar?

read on for further snippets.  and stop by http://www.justiceforimmigrants.com for the debunking of several myths in relation to immigration.

read on...

from this story:

In case the reader is not up-to-date, Imus called the women of the primarily black Rutgers team “nappy headed hos” during a Wednesday morning, April 4 segment of his show, which broadcasts to millions of listeners on more than 70 stations and the MSNBC cable network. In addition Imus’s producer Bernard McQuirk called the players “hard core hos” and went on to compare the Rutgers game against Tennessee for the NCAA championship as the “Jigaboos vs. the Wannabees, a take off from Spike Lee’s satirical film School Daze.

i am commenting on this, because of recent conversations that have arisen due to don imus’ spewing.

yes, we have freedom of speech in america.  IN NO WAY does that absolve us from facing the consequences *OF* our speech.  imus was *at work* when he made these comments.  had he been speaking on his own time, demanding an apology would suffice.  as he was working and therefore representing his company, it is appropriate that he be fired.  “loss of revenue” does not make for happy employers

for some reason, there are people who seem to have difficulty understanding this.  they want to tell me that “it’s lingo frequently used by the black community themselves”, as a way to justify imus’ insensitive and inappropriate remarks or that “we used to have free speech in this country”.  to them i say:

while i may or may not agree with the use of the “N-word” or other such terms by the black community, they have rights WHICH DO NOT EXTEND TO YOU as an outsider.  for example: i can call my mother a bitch.  you can’t.  why?  she is MY mother and i claim rights which do not extend to you.  “familial rights” (?) when describing the circumstances that have led me to call her a bitch, you can tell me that you understand where i’m coming from.  that’s okay.  you cannot tell me, “yep, gawd, she’s such a bitch”.  that is NOT okay. 

what?  “some of your best friends are black”? and you all use language like that with one another?  dependent upon how well i know you, i may extend you rights that i would not extend to others.  again, it’s my mother and i can claim those rights and extend them as i see fit.  is it a double standard?  sort of.  it’s an extension of self-deprecation. 

and...um...btw....

if yer reading this, mom, i didn’t call you a bitch, honest! 

[UPDATE 04/12/07]:

I’m very happy to see that MSNBC has dropped the simulcast of Imus’ show.  AND.  The following companies have pulled their ads from his show: Staples, General Motors, Sprint Nextel, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, PetMed Express, American Express and Bigelow Tea.

Yay

Imus says he’s apologized enough.  And perhaps he’s right.  All that’s left now is to fire him completely and we’ll be all done with this story. 

[FURTHER UPDATE 04/12/07]:

NEW YORK (CNN)—CBS has canceled Don Imus’ radio show, effective immediately, after uproar over his racist and sexist comments about Rutgers women’s basketball team.

“From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent,” said CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves, in announcing the decision.