| It is easier to crucify one scapegoat than it is to | | | | many well-known rap groups. It has been used as |
| admit that our society has sinned. I have listened | | | | a way of describing ladies of the night who work |
| to Imus In The Morning for over forty years, | | | | hard for their money, and as a negative |
| from the time I was a college student at | | | | stereotype for black women in particular. So it |
| Columbia University in New York City. He has | | | | strikes me as the height of hypocrisy when the |
| always been raunchy and obnoxious, and | | | | Reverend Al Sharpton goes on the warpath |
| sometimes he turned me off, and so I turned him | | | | against Imus. Where was Reverend Al when black |
| off. But most of the time, I laughed at his jokes, | | | | rappers began singing about "hos?" Where was he |
| because although they were raw, they were | | | | when black women were -and are still--being |
| often hilarious, and they were right on. What is | | | | degraded by their pimps and no-show husbands? |
| humor, if not a mirror that comedians hold up to | | | | Reverend Al is parading before the cameras |
| reflect our own behavior. Imus did that perfectly, | | | | acting like the prophet Jeremiah, but he hasn't |
| and most of the time I was able to set aside his | | | | convinced me of anything other than his love for |
| smoke-filled-room vulgarity and concentrate on his | | | | the spotlight. |
| true humor, though it was often expressed in | | | | So now that he has dethroned Imus, will he now |
| ways that made me uncomfortable. | | | | join hands to raise funds to support Imus' cancer |
| Now he has been fired, and for what? For using a | | | | kids at the ranch, or give the profits from Imus |
| term that many of us in our polite society think is | | | | brand foods to charity, or any of the other stellar |
| racist, sexist and just plain derogatory. And of | | | | contributions to our world that have been made |
| course it is all of these. But hold on a second, let's | | | | by Imus? No, I think not. I think Reverend Al will |
| think about this: is Imus the first one to use the | | | | continue to look for his own glory at the expense |
| term "ho?" No, of course not! Rappers, and in | | | | of any one who runs afoul of his personal moral |
| particular black rappers, have used this term for | | | | standards. |
| years, and if it does not exactly fit into | | | | I am a rabbi, but this sounds like a crucifixion to |
| living-room conversation in "proper" homes, it is | | | | me! And if Imus is Jesus, that would make |
| still included in the lyrics and live performances of | | | | Reverend Al who??? |