Unveiling the Light

Imus has been fired both from the radio station and CNBC that carried him on TV. I have never listened to him on a regular basis and figure that in those times I have come across him, usually while channel surfing, I have heard no more than ten minutes of his show. From what I heard and from what is reported, it appears I did not miss much of value and did avoid much that is foul and degrading. I am not sorry to have him leave the airways.

I am sorry in the way it happened. Imus has a reputation for being equally foul to all races and peoples. He is, apparently, the Don Rickles of radio but without the class and without the inner goodness that allows people to take everything as a joke. The fact is though, and this is news to me, that he has had many reporters and politicians on his show and they have all been silent about his excesses … until now. Now most all decry how horrible his show is and how he should be taken off the air. Even CNBC’s reporters have appeared on the show as guests. They had nothing to say before but now have barred him from the airways and thrown him to the wolves.

This is morality by popular opinion. Imus made the mistake, not of insulting a race; he has done that before. His mistake was taking on an Ivy league team with powerful backers and who have done nothing to warrant being put up to public ridicule. This smacked of unfairness and then our two judges of good moral character, Jesse Jackson and Mr. Sharpton declared that he had to go. Never mind that Jesse once called New York City “himie town” and that Al Sharpton has made a career of putting down Jews, whites, and others. Once they went on the warpath the cultural media ran for cover. Imus’s fate was sealed.

I do believe that we are better off without Imus but what about the others? How come Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton get a free pass? What about Howard Sterns? Neither cable TV nor Satellite radio are on the public airwaves. Who insults Catholics, women, gays, and others more than Howard Stern? How about the rappers who speak of women as property, things, and sexual objects? The term Imus used is mild compared to what our youth hears every day. Where is the consistency? We cannot only attack those who fall out of favor with the media elite. That is exactly what happened to Imus. He thought himself to be above it all because he thought he was one of those elite. He is very liberal in his views but that did not save him from the feigned outrage of his colleagues.

The basketball team and the school and parents were right to be outraged and to seek redress. We should all be outraged at such terminology and demigod behavior. We also need to be careful. For some, anyone that disagrees with their point of view is wrong and profane. We need to be sure that we condemn true hate speech and true bigotry but to not paint too broad a brush. There is danger in either extreme. Don’t let the hypocrites use this issue to shut down legitimate opposition.

Father Steven Foppiano