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Stupid White Men: Don Imus' Racial Trash
David In Indy:
--- Quote from: isabelle on April 10, 2007, 07:19:19 pm ---OK, foreigner here: what did those people say, please? Sounds bad anyhow???
--- End quote ---
Isabelle, I sent you a pm about it. :)
dot-matrix:
I can't stand the creep and would dearly love to see him canned, however, Free Speech is Free Speech, censure him for the inappropriateness of his words and be sure he knows that it will not be tolerated but you can't fire him for it. Personally I think having to meet with those young women to offer a personal public apology will probably kill the old fart anyway.
David In Indy:
Marlene and Dottie:
I agree. It IS free speech. And free speech is one of our rights in this country. But where do we draw the line?
Please understand that the following is not against any of you. I am using it as an example in order to make a point. :)
What about the Ku Klux Klan? Is that free speech too? The KKK took over the Indiana government nearly 100 years ago.
http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/WWW/ISL/indiana/Klan.html
The Klan's popularity has diminished here over the years, but any observant Hoosier will admit that an occasional burning cross illuminating the Indiana night skies still happens here. Is this free speech too?
If a person chose to hang a banner from his porch declaring "Death To All Fags", should we defend his or her rights to free speech? What about a privately owned billboard on private property, but in plain view of a busy highway which read "Fags Burn In Hell" or "Catholics Are Not Welcome Here"?
Where do we draw the line? People will continue to test the waters of their "rights" until they figure out the tolerated boundaries.
Free speech is wonderful, and I will gladly die to defend it. But free speech must also be tempered with responsibility. Unfortunately some in this country have forgotten this and continue to push their rights far beyond any reasonable limits.
opinionista:
--- Quote from: David on April 11, 2007, 03:11:27 am ---Marlene and Dottie:
I agree. It IS free speech. And free speech is one of our rights in this country. But where do we draw the line?
Please understand that the following is not against any of you. I am using it as an example in order to make a point. :)
What about the Ku Klux Klan? Is that free speech too? The KKK took over the Indiana government nearly 100 years ago.
http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/WWW/ISL/indiana/Klan.html
The Klan's popularity has diminished here over the years, but any observant Hoosier will admit that an occasional burning cross illuminating the Indiana night skies still happens here. Is this free speech too?
If a person chose to hang a banner from his porch declaring "Death To All Fags", should we defend his or her rights to free speech? What about a privately owned billboard on private property, but in plain view of a busy highway which read "Fags Burn In Hell" or "Catholics Are Not Welcome Here"?
Where do we draw the line? People will continue to test the waters of their "rights" until they figure out the tolerated boundaries.
Free speech is wonderful, and I will gladly die to defend it. But free speech must also be tempered with responsibility. Unfortunately some in this country have forgotten this and continue to push their rights far beyond any reasonable limits.
--- End quote ---
I agree with David here. I am a staunch supporter of free speech but I agree that it should not be used to promote hatred or contempt towards certain groups.
Scott6373:
I've heard a few interesting points to chew on regarding Imus' idiocy.
1. Why is he receiving such criticism for using the words he did, when you can
buy any hip-hop or rap recoding and hear the very same sexist/racist words. Is
it OK for some to use that language but not others?
2. Was it really racist, or was it sexist? Where are the women's groups, and why
aren't they enraged, as they rightfully should be?
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