Not quite 6 months into his new stint doing mornings on WABC/New York, Don Imus is once again at the center of a race controversy. During a discussion about football player, Adam Jones, the following exchange occurred as reported by The New York Times: (Right: Don Imus, Photo Credit: © WABC/New York)
"When told by the program’s sportscaster, Warner Wolf, that Mr. Jones no longer wished to be called by his nickname, Pacman, so that people might forget his record of multiple arrests, Mr. Imus asked, 'What color is he?'
'He’s African-American,' Mr. Wolf responded.
'Well, there you go,' Mr. Imus said. 'Now we know.'
Even though Imus later explained, "I meant he was being picked on because he’s black," reaction was swift from detractors, including several websites. Al Sharpton also criticized the remark, warning it would be looked into.
Imus was expected to address the controversy this morning (Tuesday) on his show.
More: Profile of Don Imus
Comments
We have to keep these folks honest, and Don Imus should be NO exception.
Maybe, he was being “sarcastic”, but he either continues to try to re-write the history of his “nappy hos” comment in order to escape further guilt, or he is a closet RACIST who continues to be INFATUATED with a person’s skin color! OsiSpeaks[dot]com
Imus knew that Jones was black. I listen to his show every day and he’s talked about him before when he talks about football.
Imus has a black TV producer and two black sidekicks. He has taken great steps to amend for his stupid remarks of last year. This was taken way out of context.
Al Sharpton needs to get a life and shut up for once. He has made more racial slurs against white people in any given week than Imus ever has.
Just wait for the presidential campaign to kick into high gear. Sharpton will be on the prowl for anyone who makes any criticism of Barak Obama and in the end it will hurt Obama’s campaign.
Obama should be viewed as a Democrat running for president – not as a black man running for president. It’s people like Sharpton that keep bringing race into everything any non-black person does or says, not Don Imus.