Forget Imus But Remember RACE!

It's been a week since the Imus fallout, and nearly two weeks since the shock jock found a new way to ruin a career with a soundbyte. Imus stirred the racist pot and paid for it, but he didn't concoct the recipe by himself. America has an ugly history of intolerance, unjust laws, and political violence that still haunts us in our present mirrors. But the nature of the news spectacle can distract from real introspection and dialogue about thinking, culture, and public policy.

All the familiar talking heads were in place, ready to pounce on the latest older white man to say something racist. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and a cadre of newer faces became part of the spectacle. I was pleased to hear remarks resisting the notion that Jackson and Sharpton are the "appointed" black leaders. However, it seems that televised spectacles either become about egos or ratings. In either case, the larger issues of racism and sexism in the media and in American culture lose momentum.

Imus is just another racist boogeyman, like Michael Richards, who gives self-appointed black leadership something to rant about. Much like the Ku Klux Klan, such overt racist remarks, whether intentional or not, reveal a worldview that still devalues blackness. Both men readily tapped into the American Way of dehumanizing and labeling black bodies.

Like the KKK, both men become a distraction from larger issues, such as defacto segregation in the public schools; the increases in black male incarceration and suicide; and the gender, class, and health issues that confront black women.

Okay, fine, fire Imus (which they did), and forget Michael Richards (his life really is a Kramer blunder from a Seinfeld repeat). Go ahead, give the familiar talking heads and black "leaders" their say. But once all of this is said and done, what progress is being made? As Chris Matthews said on Hardball, will this issue just go away until the next black man is killed by police?

I try not to think about THAT while driving...