Ford Finally Weighs In on Imus
EmailABC News’ Teddy Davis Reports: Former Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., D-Tenn., a fixture on Don Imus’ program over the years, finally weighs in on the controversy involving the radio talk show host. Ford’s statement, which was issued Thursday afternoon by the centrist Democratic Leadership Council which Ford has chaired since losing a Tennessee Senate race in 2006, comes after declining to comment for several days.
"I don’t want to be viewed as piling on right now because Don Imus is a good friend and a decent man," Ford says in the statement. "However, he did a reprehensible thing. His comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team were hurtful and wrong. Moreover, the comments robbed these young women of an important time to celebrate a magnificent and positive moment in their lives."
"I am a big believer in redemption," Ford continues, "and I understand that Don has done many good deeds in his life. Yet, no amount of philanthropy gives anyone the license to offend innocent people – particularly when it comes to matters of race and gender. So I’m going to follow the lead of those brilliant and gracious women of the Rutgers basketball team and wait and see how the next two weeks unfold. I certainly hope Don can come to understand better the pain he has caused these young women and their families, and I will leave it to others to decide how his future in media should play out."
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Frankly, we are fast becoming the epitome of a Jerry Springer society. It seems to have become more important to have an audience and notoriety when confronting conflict than it is to attain resolve and mutual respect. That model seems to serve the needs of the exploited and those who seek to exploit; reinforcing all that relegates objectivity to the outhouse while making the frailty and imperfection of the human condition a spectacle that harkens back to the Coliseum.
This situation isn’t and shouldn’t be about whether liberals or conservatives, this race or that race, hip hop or honky-tonk, one group or another, are more offensive and therefore more responsible for all that is wrong with America. I am not capable of judging the whole of Don Imus nor am I capable of crafting a recipe to fix all of America…and neither are the countless pundits and partisans who have sought to frame it so.
I’m not a religious person…but I often find kinship with the imagery surrounding the portrayal of one called Jesus and his teachings of understanding and forgiveness. For all the banter I hear about the Bible and Christian values, it certainly seems to me that we are fast abandoning what many view as the sacred “tablets” in favor of the sacrosanct tabloids. If I’m right, all I can say is heaven help us.
Posted by: Daniel DiRito | April 12, 2007, 1:43 pm 1:43 pm
ABC, this story belongs in the National Inquirer or on msnbc.com.
I thought you guys were smarter than this.
Posted by: georgembush | April 12, 2007, 2:42 pm 2:42 pm
I wonder what would have happened if the shock jock had been black and the basketball team had been white?
Answer: Nothing
Reason: The TV show “Bernie Mac” can have a ‘joke’ that says:
” A rookie in the NBA gets a new car and a white girl”.
Evidently nobody was offended by this.
Posted by: Steve | April 12, 2007, 5:03 pm 5:03 pm
As an African American Democrat this makes me remember why I was never really excited about Harold Ford, Jr. being elected to the Senate. It takes him a week to make a statement? Please he was and still is a political opportunist without any guts.
Posted by: Travis | April 12, 2007, 6:48 pm 6:48 pm
What Imus did is a terrible thing and this is one of the ways of learning how to deal with real humans and what we all go through, the only thing that bothers me is that the white race is the only race that seems to be racially inclined as it goes in the society of America, on one subject is an all black college, you can’t have an all white college! What about the bigotry of some of these other people from different races or social life?
I’m not real smart nor am I stupid and I have worked with over 40 different nationalities (in one big mfg.room in a large building/with over 200 women) and everyone has something to say about the other one, but you know what I don’t think I ever heard anyone say it was because of their being white, black or red, this has got to stop, we have alot bigger problems going on in this country than this, these girls are beautiful, intelligent and strong and they will prevail over all of this!!!!!!!
The ones I am worried about is the young men and women in our services who are going to come home scarred or dead and the impact this is having on their families, friends and communities,but the politicians say we have to be there and loose all these young beautiful lives who could be protecting us right here on our own homeland and keep us safe. Please everyone get off this and back to some real issues, these kids over there don’t see color, race or religion and they are dying at a young age. TO the girls from Rutgers, “You Girls are Awesome” you know who you are and what you are, don’t let this eat you up, you are to good for that. Many happy days ahead for you and may you have a long and prosperious life.
Posted by: Cindy | April 13, 2007, 10:43 am 10:43 am
Nothing beats watching a politician, especially a light weight phoney, trying to cover all the bases. Ford needs a few weeks to see how things turn out. He didn’t need anytime when Imus was pushing his candidacy for the senate or after he lost when Imus said it was due to old racism in Tenn. Imus is guilty of trying to imitate a rapper or homeboy when he dissed the Rutger’s team nothing more. His firing had more to do with fear by corporate execs than justice. His firing will hurt not help race relations in this country.
Posted by: Big Papa | April 15, 2007, 9:59 am 9:59 am
Race hustlers, poverty pimps- score (another) 1
You and me, score -1
Posted by: common denominator | April 15, 2007, 4:48 pm 4:48 pm
This was a lot of hot air over nothing. The “nothing” is what Imus has done going back many years. It served the self-interests of some looking for ways to raise their own profiles on the back of Don Imus.
What Imus did was reprehensible, etc. blah blah blah. But what he did in no way contributed to the continuing decline of Black urban areas and the entrenched despair there. That’s still the domain of Hip Hop millionaires, their producers, executives, and anyone else who suckles at the breast of the self-degrading Hip Hop juggernaut. We’re told all they’re doing is just ‘reflecting’ what is in the hood. What they’re really doing is re enforcing the hopelessness of the downtrodden. In that way they assure that middle-class rebellious white teens continue to blow billions on the trash, keeping the hiphoppers rich. No more complicated than that.
Posted by: bluecollarbytes | April 15, 2007, 9:14 pm 9:14 pm
What a joke, why did this player wait to file a lawsuit against Imus and all the other big companys till the very day Imus and CBS settled their lawsuit, I don’t think she has a snowballs chance to win a dime, a waste of courts time, she better hope she has better lawyers than Imus does, not to mention the 7 big corporations she’s suing along with Imus and McGuirk, this lawsuit is almost comical, maybe it will air on Courtv so we can all watch the comedy of it all.
Posted by: Bonnie | August 15, 2007, 4:33 am 4:33 am