CBS dropped Don Imus’ morning shock-jock radio program, Imus in the Morning. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Imus called the Rutgers women’s basketball team, who placed second in the women’s NCAA championship, a bunch of “nappy-headed hos.” Although many black groups expressed their dismay to CBS, Imus’s ratings went up after the April 4 remark. Here’s an example of the market not taking care of itself, I guess. Fortunately, CBS (and MSNBC, which dropped the simulcast yesterday) did the right thing.
Ironically, Imus was scheduled to apologize to the team in person today.
An interesting thought problem: Clearly, what Imus said was more racist than sexist (“hos” notwithstanding). But it’s interesting that his racism was stimulated by women’s basketball and not men’s. Why do racism and sexism seem to get so perversely intertwined?
