Speaking of Don Imus, let's go back a couple of months to when Imus was fired for his "nappy-headed hos" comments. Back then, in defending Imus' firing, columnist Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post tried to deal with a very simple argument made at the time (and, I maintain, one that remains unsuccessfully addressed to this day): African-American rap and hip-hop artists use the word "ho" all the time. So shouldn't they receive the same response as did Imus? Shouldn't they too get in big trouble? Robinson's response: "For young black hip-hop artists to use such language to demean black women is similarly deplorable -- and, I would argue, even more damaging. But come on, people, don't deceive yourselves that it's precisely the same thing. Don't pretend that 388 years of history -- since the first shackled African slaves arrived at Jamestown -- never happened. The First Amendment notwithstanding, it has always been the case that some speech has been off-limits to some people. I remember a time when black people couldn't say "I'd like to vote, please." Now, white people can't say "nappy-headed hos." You'll survive."
Translation: it's bad when black artists use the term "ho." But, due to the history of slavery, it's worse when whites do it. And furthermore, African-Americans can still say it. But whites can't. Why? They just can't, that's all.
Such a failure to make an argument is an outrage, and a sad one.
