George Zimmerman Trial Livestream

Friday, December 7, 2007

WORSE THAN IMUS


TURNER'S TWO CENTS: Worse Than Imus and Searching for Mary J's Mirror



By Cameron Turner

WORSE THAN IMUS

*Don Imus’ return to the air was greeted with an appropriate level of skepticism and rebuke earlier this week.

CNN entertainment correspondent Lola Ogunnaike hit the bull’s eye when she dismissed Imus’ new black sidekicks as “complete tokens” put there to validate the racially insensitive remarks Imus is certain to make.

Likewise, rap star Chamillionaire was on point when he said on CNN’s Larry King Live: "You can say you're sorry but there still has to be some kind of punishment. The problem is there's a real effect of what he did. I've yet to see the real punishment … Don Imus is really winning right now. The corporations are winning. But there's a lot of people who are not winning."

Imus began his return broadcast by admitting that his comment about the Rutgers women’s basketball team was “a reprehensible remark about innocent people who did not deserve to be made fun of.” He vowed to “never say anything…that will make any of these young women at Rutgers regret or feel foolish that they accepted my apology” nor to say anything “that will make anybody think that I didn't deserve a second chance.” But Imus also declared that “the program is not going to change.” He even bragged about being on “a better radio station, one of the great iconic radio stations in the history of broadcasting, WABC in New York.”

So, he’s stronger, richer and has a higher public profile than he did before.

But Don Imus isn’t the only offensive broadcaster being welcomed back to the air. Another “shock jock” who’s even worse than Imus will return at the beginning of 2008. New York hip hop host Troi “Star” Torain and his partner/half-brother Timothy “Buc Wild” Joseph were fired last year by Clear Channel’ s Power 105.1 because Star made sexually explicit threats against the wife and four-year-old daughter of a rival jock, DJ Envy. Star actually went on the air and offered $500 to anyone who could tell him where Envy’s daughter went to school. Then he went way, way over the line. Star told his listeners, "Somebody holla at me and tell me about his whore wife and his kid... this little ugly ass kid…I'm disrespectin' your seed. I would like to skeet on the face of your seed." Star also said he wanted to “do an R. Kelly” on the little girl.

Stop and just absorb that for a second.

A grown man goes on the public airwaves and says he wants to sexually assault a four-year old child. He wants to urinate on her and ejaculate on her face. Remarks like that go far beyond foul, disgusting, frightening and depraved. That mess is actually evil. The fact a black man said those things about a black baby makes it the lowest form of evil.

Nonetheless, the Star & Buc Wild Morning Show will return next month on Pulse 87.7, a new Top 40 station owned by Mega Media Group. Unlike Imus, Star hasn’t apologized (he issued a statement making the contradictory promise to offer “responsible social commentary” while delivering “the great entertainment that my listeners have come to expect”). But just like Imus, Star & Buc Wild will certainly be hailed by legions of fans who love their hurtful form of attack “entertainment.”

Imus and Star & Buc Wild both had top-rated shows before they were fired. That raises a troubling question. What has become of us, collectively as a society, when we make celebrities out of people who use the public forum to deliberately insult, degrade, attack and threaten people?

SEARCHING FOR MARY’S MIRROR

I love the line in Mary J. Blige’s bangin’ and beautiful hit “Just Fine” when Mary declares: “I like what I see when I’m looking at me, when I’m walking past the mirror.” That’s the kind of joyful confidence that all women are entitled to experience. But, sadly, many black women and girls do not even see themselves at all in the mirror of pop culture. Especially hip hop culture.

Watching BET’s 106 & Park always gives me a sense of painful irony. The studio audience that screams so enthusiastically embodies the beautiful diversity of our race. Look over the shoulders of hosts Terrence and Rocsi and you’ll see sisters of every complexion, size and hairstyle. But that reality vanishes whenever the videos start playing (the same videos that run on MTV, VH1, iTunes, etc.). Almost all of the women in all of all of the videos have lighter complexions and long, wavy hair. The same is true of the models in hip hop magazines like XXL and KING.

By glamorizing only one type of black woman, today’s African-American musical culture rejects the truth that black -- in all its hues, shades and gradations – is, has always been and always will be beautiful. This inflicts real damage on the self-esteem of sisters who don’t look like the video models (it’s real hard to feel confident when your own culture tells you continuously that beauty looks different from you) and it sets up envy and competition among sisters.

But there’s another, less obvious impact. The narrow, Eurocentric standard of beauty promoted by African-American youth culture turns black men and boys away from sisters by teaching them to idealize the black woman who looks the least phenotypically “black” while ignoring the broad spectrum of beauty within our race. This has worrisome implications for black relationships and families.

Black male recording stars could start reversing this damage by insisting that the women in their videos reflect a range of beauty. It shouldn’t be too hard to take such a stand considering the millions that these brothers make for the record labels. Meanwhile, I urge all black folks – men and women alike – to explore the special feature “My Black is Beautiful” in the December issue of Essence (the one with Sanaa Lathan, Gabrielle Union and Nia Long on the cover). The essays, poetry, activities and talking points in this special supplement will enlighten, empower and give you a sense of pride and joy. Might as well grab a copy of Maya Angelou’s classic poem, “Phenomenal Woman” while you’re at it. Oh, and listen to Mary J’s record again!

Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents. I always want to hear yours so hit me back at TurnersTwoCents@aol.com

THINK! IT AIN’T ILLEGAL YET!

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