Thank you Imus?

Black America we've been exposed. You can thank Black "leaders" Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for their over zealous crusade for crucifixion of Imus, you can thank Micheal Richards' infamous on stage meltdown or you can thank the repulsive looking bigot pictured above for his repugnant on-air comments. No matter whom you thank make sure to include yourself amongst the people and events that have exposed the real truth. From what I have noticed the Imus controversy and the media frenzy that has ensued has produced two glaring issues that have once again exposed the sensitive topic of race in America. First, the days of white people getting away with saying greasy shit about black people in public has ended and we can now label Imus as the sacrificial pig. Whether you want to believe that the he was only fired because of the loss of advertising dollars or you actually believe that MSNBC and CBS were truly disgusted by the shock jocks comments, the fact remains that he has been punished for his comments and justly so. In an era where the line of political correctness gets finer by the minute, going on a national platform and spewing derogatory comments can result in some serious repercussions.

The minute Imus' comments were plastered across every media outlet in the world Black America cried victim. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson stepped into their phone booths donned their crusader capes and rushed to save the day. But the media and several Imus supporters have managed to deflect the racially charged comments and expose an underlying issue that's been a constant hindrance to growth in the black community; why hasn't Sharpton, Jackson and supporters followed suit with the actions of the late C. Delores Tucker and try to rid hip hop of the misogyny and violence that is so often glamorized by the genre? Jason Whitlock seems to believe that there is no money involved in that fight and no way Sharpton and clan can claim victim by the hands of their own people. Whitlock is right. There is no money involved and no way to claim victimhood. The truth is, what is at stake can not be quantified into a monetary value neither can it be contrived into a plan to show that we have been victimized. The future and destiny of Black America is at stake and we can not blame hip hop solely for its demise. There is a civil war that has raged on within the black community for years and has pitted young vs. old, male vs. female, dark skin vs. light skin. I jokingly spoke about it when Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy, brought the battle between dark skin and light skin to a national stage, but this time it's no joking matter. Black America has been fighting "the man" for so long that we don't know how to handle the internal battles that are crippling our own community. So Sharpton, Jackson and supporters and whoever else has been anointed by the media as the champion for black folks are fighting "the man" mainly because they don't want to expose the internal conflicts that exist in the black community. The problem with that strategy is that these internal conflicts are magnified every time our "leaders" devote so much of their efforts to such a minuscule battle. Fighting "the man" is always going to be a losing battle. Bigots like Imus and Micheal Richards will continue to troll around America spewing insensitive remarks amongst their white colleagues. The true battle exists within the black community and the longer we wait to address it, the further we push ourselves into extinction. I want to thank DP and Jason Whitlock for encouraging myself and others to speak out about the truth behind this Imus fallout.