IN THEORY:Forgiving public figures

CBS Radio and MSNBC fired Don Imus this week after he referred to Rutgers University’s women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos.” Initially, the companies agreed to suspend Imus for two weeks after he apologized but calls for his ouster escalated. Have we established a higher standard for forgiveness with public figures and, if so, do you think that’s fair?

In our culture of apology, everyone must take his turn on the rack of regret and walk the gauntlet of shame. The “sorry” business is a growth industry, a communal syndrome. Inducing paroxysms of guilt is a way of life. Perhaps we should emulate the Australians who apologized to their Aboriginal countrymen by signing “sorry books” on a National Sorry Day.

The Wall Street Journal recalled that Don Imus insulted a reporter as a “beanie-wearing Jewboy,” and branded Simon and Schuster publishing house as “thieving Jews,” later clarifying that he misspoke “since the term is redundant.”

For decades, his slurs have demeaned much of humankind. If Imus were to begin to apologize, there would be no warrant for him to ever stop. He is an equal-opportunity abuser and earned his stripes by being anti-everyone.

What would talk radio be without hosts hurling insults at callers, guests, teams, political parties, religions, occupations, ethnicities, races, nations and individuals? Embarrassing, humiliating and shaming are tools of its trade. Do devotees expect subtlety, nuance or courtesy? Does this genre of entertainment promote a philosophy of “Can’t we all get along?” and “Have a nice day?” Offensive talk that bruises is its métier and, more important, its bread and butter. Hate labels like Rush Limbaugh’s “Femi-Nazis,” or Michael Savage’s “Little soy eaters” or Bill O’Reilly’s “Wetbacks” spring to mind.

A practitioner of this form of “entertainment” predictably employs outrageous, hurtful, nasty, brutish, vulgar, derogatory, blood-curdling and bone-chilling imagery. So why do we react as though a line was crossed? When Imus refers to the Indian men’s doubles team as “Gunga Din” and “Sambo,” or the New York Knicks as “chest-thumping pimps,” why the indignation? What do we expect? Refinement, politesse, advanced culture? NPR?

No, crude and lewd is the order of the day, bullying and belligerence make for success, and sewer mouths rule the airwaves.

Even if he were sincerely sorry over his words, to whom should he apologize? Expressing regret to the targets of his vituperation is appropriate, although my people could claim a place in line, along with multiple peoples who have been objects of his rants. But seeking forgiveness from Jesse Jackson, who labeled New York “Hymie-town,” or from Al Sharpton, who has his own verbal terrorism for which to atone, adds insult to injury. These grandstanding opportunists in the guise of moral paragons enjoy no right to any mea culpa before offering their personal mea maxima culpa.

What Imus said was reprehensible, but no more so than a thousand other revolting insults he has thrown up from his slime pit. Ultimately, it is a matter of utter indifference to me what Don Imus thinks of Jewish people and I wonder why black people should care how he views them? He is just another guttersnipe who can gather an audience in a world populated by countless jerks who can attract a following.

Who cares what he says?

RABBI MARK S. MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

Did the shock jock over-shock? Don Imus always seemed to be pushing the edge of decency, but then celebrities always seem to be allowed extra leeway, and his outlandish comments, most of which were intended to offend someone, were what made him famous.

Entertainment, rather than real news, is the goal of the media these days. Nobodies have been turned into celebrities simply because they happen to have something about them that is a bit weird or shocking that might amuse us. The media is only interested in making the most money in the easiest and cheapest way possible, rather than providing legitimate, unbiased and important news. Instead of doing any research to find significant developments that should be reported on, its members take the easy way and try to titillate the audience.

So for our entertainment, we end up with people like Imus who occasionally wildly overstep the bounds of propriety. Clearly he is a bigot, but Imus is no more the villain here than is the management of the media (who probably share some of his prejudices or he would not have lasted this long) and their worship of the almighty dollar at the expense of honorable use of the public trust. It is only the extreme public reaction that has driven the media management to finally take some action in this case.

They would have been happy to ignore the whole thing and continue to make money on the Imus program.

JERRY PARKS

Member

Humanist Assn.

of Orange County

I think public figures should be judged on a higher level than other people. In our Biblical tradition it says that Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them who looked and heard her words. Any public figure is judged on what he said, what people thought he said, what he didn’t say, and what he should have said. Don Imus was wrong and should be fired from his job. In my opinion he has not apologized fittingly and directly to those slandered.

A feeling of discontent may, in a solemn moment of self-examination, prompt a person to resolve to change his ways. But too often the person lacks the tenacity needed for effecting a radical change in his behavior of strongly entrenched habits. Most public figures get paid a lot of money and have a high status to go with their high lifestyle. The pictures on the 36-foot screens at the movies make people in the entertainment industry as the Torah says “like they are giants on the earth.” They are to most people. Look at all who listen to them; they number in the hundreds of thousands. Public figures are more accountable and responsible than the rest of us and are to be judged and dealt with accordingly.

RABBI MARC RUBENSTEIN

Temple Isaiah

Newport Beach

Forgiveness is good and is a part of the healing process. But consequence is equally important. I’ve heard Don Imus’ apology, and I’ve heard his argument that there is a double standard within the black community revealed in how it refers to other black women. However, I have not heard the kind of racial slur specifically applied to a group like Imus did when he singled out the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. This is extraordinary in its reach and scope because these women are dedicated and proud and should never have to be subjected to such a gender-demeaning and racially insensitive remark. I know of no black rappers, musicians or poets who have called a specific group of black women, like the Rutgers basketball team, that kind of name.

I have heard women described in demeaning ways, but this is different.

Imus’ apology appears to be sincere, but he does not belong on the airwaves in the prestigious position he has occupied with CBS and MSNBC.

I agree with the decision to let him go. This is more than a mistake; this is a violation of human dignity. If Imus were serious about repenting and changing his thought patterns, he would volunteer to do community service that could put him in contact with black women who have endured a lifetime of these kinds of comments.

PASTOR JIM TURRELL

Center for Spiritual Discovery

Costa Mesa

When asking for forgiveness, it is important to admit the wrongdoing, to show an understanding of what factors led to it, to give assurances that it will not be repeated and to make concrete amends. Even in situations where an apology is genuinely offered and accepted, there may be consequences which cannot be undone by an apology.

Don Imus is free to say whatever he wants in private. But employers such as CBS and MSNBC have a right and the duty to pull the plug on commentators who use racist and sexist language. No one has a right to be on the radio or to have access to millions of listeners. The expression of different opinions should be encouraged, but language that is racist and sexist should not be permitted on the public air.

Women and girls have had to fight to play sports. When I was in high school, we could not have a girls’ basketball team because all the gyms were being used for boys’ basketball and wresting. This was before the “second wave” of feminism and the passage of Title IX, which mandated equal opportunities for girls and women in sports. Attitudes that female athletes are unfeminine and unladylike as well as inferior to men who play sports have not died out.

It was outrageous for Imus to refer to these excellent college athletes in such a manner. The company properly reviewed the nature of the remarks, their effect on others and his track record. I hope he will go through with his plans to apologize to the team. I also hope he will go for counseling and education on diversity, racism and sexism. But regardless of his apology, the suspension and firing were justified.

REV. DR. DEBORAH BARRETT

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

It’s called responsibility. “To whom much is given, much is required,” Jesus once told his disciples. Celebrities get away with far too much in our society and are not held to a standard of accountability for the honor they hold in our culture. They view it as a right and not as a privilege.

I am even more concerned that, as the captain of the Rutgers women’s team expressed, the music culture is not being held to the same accountability. She is concerned that the music culture that uses words like Imus’ has created a culture that made men like Imus and others feel like it is OK to use that language. She feels he is a product of culture rather than a producer of racism. Yet, I haven’t heard anyone else, including Al Sharpton, crying out for changes in the music industry. I am glad Imus was held accountable, but to remove Imus was just to pick a scab. The cancer underneath remains, and until we deal with it, we will continue to have incidents like this.

RIC OLSEN

Lead Pastor

The Beacon

Anaheim