Thoughts about past controversy...

I would love to touch on a past event: The media controversy that surrounded Imus since his infamous comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team (when he referred to the women of the team as ‘nappy-headed hos’). For those of you that remember this incident, the controversy was not over the comment itself, but over the mainstream media that had not let this story die down. It was argued that despite increasing numbers of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, further indications of climate change evidenced through bizarre spring weather, and a historic peace agreement in Northern Ireland, the North American news cycle seemed perpetually stuck on the Don Imus incident. Meaning, the story should have died sooner---wouldn’t that imply that this was not as important as other current events taking place in our country? If that’s the case, how do we put a rank on current events? Well, stop me if you don’t agree, but Imus’s comment was hurtful to the women’s basketball team, and they deserve to express their hurt and frustration to the media over this situation. Women in sport face an incredible amount of sexism on a daily basis, and Imus’s comment is indicative of a culture that does not do enough to create equality between the sexes when it comes to recognition in sport. It’s not difficult to see how comments like Imus’s are a hindrance to the overall breakdown of racism and sexism in our society.