Don Imus needs to lose his job

Take action on the slander of the Rutgers Women's basketball team today! NOW and the YWCA are leading the charge to get Don Imus' show canceled, and if you agree that that needs to happen, here's where you can take action yourself.

For those of you who don't know much about this issue, or who might think that Don Imus deserves to keep his job, I'd like to share my take on this. To start with, take a listen to the women that Don Imus chose to call "nappy-headed hoes".



These courageous women did the right thing today by standing up and speaking out about this outrage. It's true that radio is a nasty business, it's true that lots of men are saying much worse things on radio (particularly right-wing radio), but what makes this different is that a rich, powerful, white man chose to use his public platform to tear down ten young women at the height of their young lives with several carelessly chosen words.

Don Imus called these young women "rough", "nappy headed hoes". But to understand why this is so wrong, you must understand what these ten women heard.

These ten young women, who have put their academic lives on the line to drive their team towards the championship, these ten young women, who have struggled day in and day out to make their team the best women's basketball team in America, these ten young women, at the peak of their success, were cut down to pieces by a man in a fancy office with millions of dollars in his pocket, and why?

Because he could. Because he was sure they were weak. And because he thought he could trash them all he wanted, and nothing would come of it.

But thankfully, because of the brave young women of the Rutgers Women's basketball team, America can now get a chance to see the kind of hurt and hell that women have to face in this country every single day. And for black women, who are struggling to defy unfair stereotypes of their own, who are working to make themselves courageous, brilliant new leaders of tomorrow, some rich prick can, with just a few words, cast aspersions on their character that will be trafficked by low-class radio hosts and bloggers all over this nation.

God bless these strong young women. God bless them for having the courage to stand up, to come together and to tell the truth. Don Imus deserves to lose his job. And to anyone else who chooses to speak of women in this way in the future, to anyone else who continues to stand in the way of our young women from achieving their highest dreams, let this be a lesson to you.

You may think you're untouchable. You may think you're a man apart, free from any consequence, but times they are a'changin'. Our young women are coming up.

God bless America, and God bless these strong young leaders of tomorrow.

Categories: National News