First Imus, now Isiah
-
- October
- 8
The Rev. Al Sharpton has weighed in on comments Knicks coach and general manager Isiah Thomas made during his sexual harassment trial in which he said it was less objectionable for a black man to call a black woman the b-word than it was for a white man to so call a black woman.
Sharpton is now asking for an apology from Thomas. He is threatening a boycott of the Knicks if the apology isn’t forthcoming.
Sharpton and other black civil rights leaders were quick to condemn radio host Don Imus for his own controversial remarks about female basketball players at Rutgers University.
Critics say Thomas’ remarks went unchallenged for too long, and that they’re just as offensive as Imus’. Allowing Thomas’ comments to go unaddressed erroneously indicates the presence of a different standard in the black community, they say.
Some are characterizing as a patent double standard Sharpton’s failure to call for Thomas’ firing.
The case, which initially ignited a debate about workplace and gender equity issues, is now sparking more discussion about society, race, culture and the dynamic of language within given social and ethnic groups.
It wasn’t too long ago that similar arguments were raging over attempts to control the use of the N-word.
To learn more about the harassment case, read here.
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 2:00 pm by Suzan Clarke.
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WOW!!! al sharpton calling for an apology from a black man.
This must be a first.
This is stupid. An apology is not necessary, or warranted, especially because I don’t think people need to apologize for comments made (and subsequently reported) during the course of giving sworn testimony. (I don’t actually know if it is sworn testimony, but still…) There is no room for “being PC” when trying to give testimony.
Don Imus’ comments were different; his were intended “get a chuckle” at the expense of the Rutgers basketball team.
Funny you should call it “the b-word.” It was “suitable for print” in “this AP article”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710020369 as well as one of the first “Sloatsburg court shooting” articles that the Journal News ran back in May. (Which I can’t find. But, the quote starts “I should have shot…”) Anyway, I’d probably suggest NOT running it in this fine publication, unless you had “other MSG activities in mind.”:http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/
I don’t think it’s tenable to have a double standard.
With respect to the N-word, I think we have to go to one extreme or the other. It’s either a highly offensive word that nobody should use, or we should deprive the word of its meaning by using it lightly.
But it’s not credible to claim that a word is highly offensive when one person uses it, but light-hearted and funny when another person uses it.
I could go either way in my opinion.
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