The Battle of Imus: Lessons Lost

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If the so-called Imus controversy taught us anything, it's that we Americans have way too much time on our hands--that, and we love a good brawl. Give us a few ill-chosen words on an early Friday morning, and we're pretty much set for at least a weekend of drunken punditry. In the Imus case, though, we just can't seem to shake the hangover.

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It's a hotbutton issue that has about as much meaning in the scheme of things as Avril Levigne getting married. Yet, we're fascinated by it, outraged by it, devastated by it and in a state of denial by it. Here's why: it forced us to look at ourselves.

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And we didn't like what we saw.

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While most of us nursed our wounds after the initial brawl, bullies from all corners smelled blood. And bullies being what they are, they made alliances. It's the way bullies work--it's how gangs are formed. It doesn't matter about your personal ethics--all that matters is a common foe. Once that's in place, you become invincible. And once that happens, there's no stopping you.
Your foot soldiers will do the rest, and you can sit back and reap the spoils.

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That's what's happened here--and what better time than an election year? Hilary Clinton was outraged, so Condoleeza Rice had to be indignant, also. Black conservatives with political aspirations suddenly spoke of a need for civility, and white liberals had to jump on that bandwagon, also. Snoop Dogg even weighed in, saying that when rappers say it, they're just reflecting a community that whites can't understand. It's all a matter of proper context, after all.

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Here's the thing: we Americans have no short term memory. We buy whatever message is sold to us, so long as it's served up on a cool soundbite or an iPod. We forget the message of Martin Luther King or Robert Kennedy or even Barry Goldwater, and we purposely divide ourselve according to race or ethnicity. This is 2007, and we've run out of ideas. Rather than forge ahead, we want to retreat to the idealized version of the 1950's, where nobody ever said a cross word, and blacks and whites lived happily in their segregated neighborhoods.

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Sure, it would be nice if we were a little more civil and polite. But who in their right mind believes a government can mandate civility? We face innumerable challenges as a nation. Slips of the tongue and coarse language only divert our attention from the real dangers we face. To paraphrase Jay-Z, "I got 99 problems, and the bitch ain't one"

We can go down that road, and ban everything we find personally offensive. Of course that will also mean not only an end to hip-hop, but those bare midriff commercials for everything from Slimfast to Bally's, all those adolescent fantasies disguised as body spray commercials, every program that may inadvertently slander a group — say Irish or Germans — ditch every politically offensive program — depending on your point of view — and, hell, get rid of almost all the programming we've come to love. We can create our new Mullah class, and we'll all be protected — or else.The other option is to shed our eggshell skins, and realize even a bad joke is better than no joke at all.