Bigger Than Imus

April 12, 2004 — -- This goes beyond Don Imus.

His critics continue their call for his blood, but whether CBS actually follows MSBNC and fires the popular talk radio host, his characterization of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" has reignited an inescapable debate about race in the United States.

For a week, the ongoing discussion has forced Americans to think about where they stand not just on Imus but on issues of decency and civility in all sorts of discourse. In plain terms, millions of people have re-engaged on the topic of public figures acting mean and crossing the line, even in the name of entertainment.

The debate roared on today when the Rutgers women's basketball team, the original target of Imus' snipe, appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" before millions of viewers.

In contrast to the Rev. Al Sharpton, who today is protesting outside the CBS building urging network officials to fire Imus, the Rutgers women stopped short of calling for Imus' ouster.

Instead, the team seemed to want to replace rhetoric and stereotyping with a human Imus face.

"We wanted to see the man behind the mike," coach C. Vivian Stringer told Winfrey. She and her team are now several days into a media tour that has not yet included a promised face-to-face sitdown with Imus, her players and their families.

"Because he really doesn't know the Rutgers women's basketball team, and he certainly made a characterization that was defaming," Stringer said via satellite. "And we wanted him to know who we are. We certainly want to know who this man was."

The team will not reveal the exact time and place of the agreed-upon Imus sit-down, hoping to quell the media firestorm that will likely churn at least until CBS decides to either keep Imus on the radio or kick him off.

"It will happen very, very soon," Stringer said of the team's meeting with Imus. "And I think that shall be a catharsis of sorts."

For a group of NBC News employees, however, that catharsis has proved impossible to achieve.

At MSNBC, which broadcasts the Imus program, employees met with news division president Steve Capus, saying that they had had enough of Imus. At the same time, a series of heavy-hitting advertisers decided to cut and run. Capus announced the network's decision Wednesday night to drop the simulcast.

For her part, Winfrey, whose broader cultural influence is undeniable, praised the Rutgers women for showing dignity and restraint in the incident's aftermath. She also focused on the idea that this controversy is about women as well as race.

"I speak for every woman I know when I say you have made us proud by the way you have handled this entire ordeal," Winfrey told the team during her introduction to the 10-minute segment. And then, before saying goodbye, she quoted Maya Angelou, her "mentor": "You make me proud to spell my name w-o-m-a-n."

Imus can't escape his incendiary characterization, and continues to emphasize his desire to meet with Rutgers to rectify what has been a damaging episode.

Still, despite all his contrition, Imus said he has apologized enough and his penchant for charged, hard-edge banter poked through again Thursday. Talking about Duke, Imus wondered when the activist Sharpton would apologize to the now-vindicated lacrosse players.

Sharpton was one of the most outspoken advocates of the accuser in the Duke case. Now he is the one driving the calls for CBS to fire Imus.

Even if CBS chooses not to fire Imus, the radio host will be off the air Monday when he starts serving his two-week suspension.

The suspension would have reportedly begun immediately if not for a preplanned annual charity fundraiser Imus held this morning.

And Imus joked that listeners better give generously.

"The may be our last Radiothon, so we need to raise about $100 million," Imus said.