Should the Black Community be to blame for the Imus comment since the term hoes was popularized in Rap music?

Question

Should the Black Community be to blame for the Imus comment since the term hoes was popularized Rap music?
The term "hoes" was popularized by the black community in Rap and Hip Hop. I've even heard the term Nappy Headed used by the Nappy Roots in hip hop. My question is why is it okay for the black community to use these words but when a white person repeats them it's soooooooo wrong? If words are going to be used in popular culture and the repeated by whites are we really to be blamed? Also, I cant name the number of times I have watched BET comedy and whites have been made fun of. I just tired of Al sharpton and Jesse Jackson targeting whites and making them look like the bad guys when it goes both ways!

Answer 1

No one is responsible for anything stupid that comes out of a person's mouth. Are white people responsible for a black person calling someone a "crack*r"? Heck no. It is offensive and there is no excuse. I can't stand the word crack*r or ******. I hate it when black and white people use it! Don't put the whole black community in that lump as if we all are OK when our race uses slurs against other races. It is NOT OK.



People need to be responsible for their own actions and not blame others when they do dumb things. That is the problem with America. That isn't a race issue. That is common sense.



Furthermore, hoes is used by ALL races. I hear it from everyone. The problem with the comments is this was not addressed to a hoochie like Little Kim. He was calling a group of BLACK AND WHITE GIRLS hoes who weren't hoes in any way. They are intelligent women and great athletes. They didn't deserve to be called hoes just because they were female. There are hoes in the world, but it is wrong to mislabel people just because of their gender.



As far as rap is concerned, when girls stop sleeping with a bunch of men just for status, then rappers will stop calling girls hoes. I can't stand it either, but it is reality. We all know they exist. But respect the women who aren't. Bottom line.

Answer 2

I find this interesting. There are so many words in the English language that was popularized by other sources. Yet, we use our common sense and refrain from using those words. There are vulgarities and profanity, but people do not use them becauce they know that is is no proper. So, why is itt that when someone in the rap industry says a word, then it is suppose to be deemed acceptable. In the rap industry some songs tell you to be kind to one another and respect the sista, but I do not see people fighting to do that.



I wonder are people searching for any excuse to use racial epitaphs and slurs. So why is it soooooo important that people imitate the the negative things that is in society. Primarilty the use of a few rappers that may say someting deragatory. It seems that people are looking for a reason.



I am very doubtful that Imus listens to rap music. Plus, who was he imitating when he insulted all the other people over the years. 20 years of insults of racism and sexism. Only within the last ten years have rap sunk to this low.



I am curious why SOME white people think that they must always blame the entire black community for a few. I do not think that all whites are racist because of the few that are.



The sad thing that you may not realize is that each black person has to be the entire race. If one does something then the entire community must be that way. I think that is sad to say the very least.

Answer 3

Imus did not only offend the black community. He offended women also by using a sexist term. One could say that women popularize the word "ho" amongst themselves when talking about another female. Should the female community be blamed also? What Imus said was completely out of taste and in bad judgment. From what I've read, he's been known for making derogatory statements to other groups, not just blacks. I personally don't agree with black people using the N word amongst themselves as a "term of endearment" nor do I agree with some of this "commercial" rap which merely uses degrading language. I don't condone it neither do I encourage it. If some people choose to do that, I'm not going to participate along.

Answer 4

I definitely thing the Rap industry should be given limits as well. How come it's ok for them to call each other the "N" word but if a white person uses that word, it's a racist comment? Why is it ok for them to call white people "White trash" etc? We don't have people like Al Sharpton & Jesse Jackson to defend us, we defend ourselves and most white people will laugh about it and not take it as a racist comment. I think freedom of speech protects hurtful people and yet people that say stuff not out of hate end up taking the full blunt of the black community crying wolf. I don't think Imus was right in what he said but I also do not think many black comedians & rappers are right in making fun or taking jabs at white people but yet they don't lose their jobs. It's a shame that people can't just get over it.

Answer 5

I hereby officially renounce my former position on stupid questions. They do exist. While your political/cultural points have some merit to them, the question does not. The word "hoes" was popularized, btw, by an Eddie Murphy character on SNL, and merely adopted into use by rappers. However, if the word had never come into being, Imus would have used another offensive word in it's place and wouldn't have cared WHETHER it was popular, let alone WHO popularized it.

Answer 6

Whites are not allowed to make fun of anyone of another race even in fun because they will be sued,attacked and harassed, not to mention the constant whining of the people supposedly offended. You cant even compliment a black person today, remember a little while ago when Bush complimented Obac Obama saying he was intelligent and articulate? Millions of blacks fell to floor crying about it. So at the risk of sounding racist im suggesting a plan for the blacks that fit these category's mentioned above, if you dont then ignore it.

My plan is placed below.

Answer 7

It's high time that many people

became aware of the following fact:



There is absolutely *no such thing* as a

singular, homogenous "black community”



Instead, there are many, many different

varieties of “communities” which have

been labeled as being "black" and there

are a great deal of diversity of opinions and

types of people found within each of them.



Thus, many matters -- such as BET, rappers, etc.

--- are *not*, in the least bit, "representative"

of "all" or even "most" of the wide variety of

very diverse "black communities" which exist

throughout the United States of America.



An excellent source is the book:



"DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE: -- Fighting

Cultural Information about African-Americans"



(-- written by Newsweek and Meet the

Press correspondent, 'Ferai Chideya')



Related Links of Interest:



http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/991

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1399

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1570







.

Answer 8

Just because lots of people starts looting in the event of a natural disaster, that doesn't make looting right.



After reading what people posted about the Imus fiasco, here is what I think:



The "Freedom of Speech" claim:

Many claims it is just his opinion, and his right to freedom of speech. To me, an opinion is "I like apple more than oranges.". To refer to a group as "nappy headed hoes" is just slander because you would then have to prove that they are all indeed hoes. Just as a journalist cannot write something in the newspaper that is not true, else they risk getting sued. However, if Imus said, "I don't like nappy headed hoes" then I think that would constitute as an opinion and that should be okay.



The "Rappers said it too" claim:

Same goes with rappers, if they say something in the context of an opinion, then that is okay. If they direct it to someone or a group, then they too have to be held accountable for what they rap.



The "Other races have nappy hair too" claim:

If I am not mistaken, the fuss is about the whole phrase "nappy headed hoes" but rather then the word "nappy" itself. The whole phrase would probably translate to "those girls with nappy hair on their heads are hoes". True that they might have nappy hair, but they are not hoes (unless proven so). Doesn't matter what race have nappy hairs. Calling them "hoes" without prove is what is derogatory.

Answer 9

no, People need to stop blaming everyone or everything for all the problems in the world. The only person to blame is Imus. He is a shock Jock, he shocked people, wow, what a surprise. Did AL & Jesse blow it out of proportion, YES!!! Did they get themselves on every news channel. YES!!! Again not suprised!!!



Good luck to Rutgers next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Answer 10

no it is not a double standard. jews and gays have a double standard for them. between anti gay and anti-smetic comments one can be persecuted and villified easily. hoes is short for whores . do you know who asked sharpton or jackson to be coment or to be at any event in which a so called black civil rights laeder is put forward. this thing will not blow up to be that big ,because these 2 misleaders work for and clean up white messes like this. so far it's all a farce,and we will be bamboozled. no punshment. america especially blacks should not be surprised because racism was never addressed in this country but swept under the rug. race murders are swept under the rug. held off as long as possible.slowly the freedom of speech is special interest grpoups oriented and outsiders are caught in the trap. gays and jews run the world. so no black comm is not to blame for anything except supporting these people and it will continue. personally i expect to see and hear more of this as more and more white people feel empowerde and feel that time is rolling back to the good ole days.bring out the white sheets,byatch.

Answer 11

Yes, Blame it on Whoopy, Oprah, and a Caesar. Actors in the movie " The Color Purple" The 11- time Academy Award Nominated Film.

You decide. Adolph Caesar, long known for playing powerful characters in movies such as “Purple” and “Soldier’s Story,” and the voice of the famous United ***** College Fund “A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste” commercial, certainly wouldn’t have been racially offensive, would he?



In “The Color Purple,” Mr. Caesar’s character is an older Black man commenting to a younger man about Woopy Goldberg.”

At one point Caesar tells him “She black as tar, nappy-headed, got legs like baseball bats, and I hear she got that nasty women's disease.

Later on, he repeats the same phrase ,when he says; “Boy, you goin' let this ol' nappy-headed girl cuss you out like that? You sittin' at the head of your own dinner table and actin' like a waiter.”

Those are exact quotes from the script.

It's obvious that white people don't have the same freedom of speech that Black's have.

Answer 12

First of all, I don't think race was the real underlying issue. If he had called them "ugly sluts" would the outcry be the same? I think what he said was really an insult to women in general. Was it because they excelled at a predominantly "male sport" that somehow made them less "feminine", and therefore "Ho's"?

Answer 13

YES!! He thought it sounded funny because he was mocking hip hop lingo...And usually an old white man imitating hip-hop or anything modern is considered humorous.I felt offended when he said it..but it was obvious where he was coming from when he said it.

Answer 14

OMG!!!! JT, the movie "Guess Who" is a remake of a very famous old movie starring Sidney Portier called "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". And yes, in the original movie, the situation WAS reversed. That movie is, like, almost 50 years old.

Answer 15

Yes. It's just double standards, and like it or not, white people have to deal with it... Remember the film Guess Who, starring Aston Kutcher? You think if the situation of the storyline were reversed, you that film would have actually been released....?







*edit*

Badkitty, yes I am aware of that, and i'm sure everyone else is ;) lol... I was talking about todays views. If the whole situation were reversed in the 21st century... I can't imagain it would go down very well... The fact that they did reverse the situation and didn't stick to the orgional storyline does say a lot as well..

Answer 16

Why not?e whites for every thing anyway.

Answer 17

no... mature, intelligent individuals should know right from wrong and act accordingly. maybe that was the problem..?

Answer 18

no,imus is to blame for what he says,no one else.

Answer 19

a hoe is a hoe is a hoe

Answer 20

my question is why do white people wanna copy black people and black culture so much?