On a slow newsday the infamous shock jock Don imus uttered the 3 words which will now live in infamy. The combination of these remarks in addition to the off-air instances of racist practices left Imus with the very real prospect of having his career go up in flames. With nothing left to lose, Imus threw a hail mary and blamed the pervasive presence of Rap music as the true culprit behind his using the term Nappy Headed Ho's. Now what should've been a blatantly pathetic and transparent move to avoid personal responsibility; actually worked. Let me repeat that, it worked.
3 words from Imus suddenly became a point of exodus for him as well as a referendum on not only Rap music but Black pop-culture as a whole. What started as a spin move suddenly became the platform for Civil rights relics, pundits and general critics alike to put Rap as the focal point of nearly every pathology that exists in the Black community; with the added bonus of it all happening in a vacum.
After the boycotts, the 2 episode Rap lynching on Oprah, as well as scores of editorials and web based campaigns; where do we stand? Imus is 20 million dollars richer from a settlement victory, has a contract with WABC to begin a show in December and in addition has a TV simulcast deal.
The Immaculate deception could never have worked better.
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