Point being, I may not agree with people like Al Sharpton, or Rosie O’Donnell or whoever the whack job of the moment may be, and as much as I would like to see those two in particular go away, it will just end badly in the long run. Despite the fact that I think they are idiots, I will stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their right to speak their mind. You should too.”

*applause*

Right on.

I would ask if you were kidding but I honestly believe you just don’t know. Of course I pick it and comb it. It requires just as much maintenance as a white persons hair. To make it “acceptable” looking in most professional environments it requires even more maintenance which is why so many black men have opted just to cut it off. There is no such thing as average black guy hair, the texture can vary as much as our skin color.

I said that nappy was a term used to describe hair like mine. Nappy is not a term I would used to describe my own hair, it is a derogatory term someone else would and has used to describe it.

With Don it was hard to tell sometimes if he was truly mean spirited, thought he was being funny, or both. But when I look at more of the meat of this matter, a few things become very clear. His remarks were said to be racist, ( that’s a word that gets tossed around WAY too much. His remarks were possibly bigoted, but definitely not racist) and he was terminated for such. Did that solve the problem? How did his termination affect, say, the supposed racial disparity, poverty, or what kind of tangible positive boost did it give to the black community?

None whatsoever.

And was any serious harm done by a few words from some old guy on the radio? Was anyone in the black community denied a job, denied an education, denied advancement because of a few silly words? Nope. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me” indeed.

This story, without substance nor meaningful effect, was paraded by the media with much hoopla, pomp, and circumstance. As you said, Art, the phrase was repeated and the clip was played hundreds of times, by journalists and commentators alike. It makes a nice contrast with, say, the Duke case, where those kids’ lives were destroyed by Nifong and the media parade for a year. Nifong, of course, was given a pass for his apology, and case closed. “DA Nifong apologized to the Duke lacrosse team today. Now sports.” Will their ensuing lawsuits get anywhere near the press coverage that the Rutgers girls got after Imus’s apology? Doubtful.

I need my own blog.