[Professor S]

Political Correctness has finally come full circle. Nothing about this "nappy headed ho's" scandal has anything to do with stopping hate speech or promoting civil rights.

Its about power, plain and simple. Those like Al Sharpton don't give a rat's ass about "the struggle", as he puts it, at least not beyond how it can benefit his bank account. He wants noteriety, fame and money. Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are Race Brokers. Their business depends on the perpetuation of stereotypes and the belief that racism is still as prevalent as it was 40 years ago.

Why do I say this? As Bond stated before, the same words that Imus used (satirically, I mights add, but still wrong) and available on any mainstream rap albums. Yet those like Sharpton refuse to take a strong stand against those statements. Sure, they'll call for "dialogues" and say that such lyrics are unfortunate and such, but do they call for those record labels to drop these artists or anything like that? Of course not. Its not that they view those statements any less offensive, but going after those in their own community creates more risk for their status with little opportunity for reward. Meanwhile those like Bill Cosby are criticied for being "insensitive" when he's one of the few actually trying to improve circumstances in the poor black community through promoting respect, education and the family.

Plus, an older broadcaster like Imus who is at the end of their career is an EASY TARGET. Shock Jocks like Opie and Anthony say worse things than nappy headed ho's on a daily basis in the name of humor, and Sharpton won't touch them. Why? He'd get slaughtered by those two and their fans. Imus is easy at this point in his career, but he's still a legendary name that Sharpton can take advantage of to promote his own agenda$.

This also opens up an entire pandora's box when it comes to free speech. Now I believe that any of Imus' sponsors have the full right to pull out and anyone who doesn't want to listen to him should stop. Neither of those actions inhibit his free speech, in fact, they promote the ability for his audience to express their free speech against his. Whats good for the Dixie Chicks is good for Don Imus. Thats how the free market works. But anyone stating that Imus could not say what he did, and rappers can, simply because of their ethnicity walks a very dangerous tightrope. Once we start determining free speech by the color of skin, its not long before other "rules" are determined nd free speech really is threatened.