Why I Like Don Imus

Don Imus may be a jerk.

He may be a pompous, arrogant ass. He may be a dimwitted cracker who doesn't know when to close his mouth. Or he may be an insensitive racist.

But you know what? I sort of like Don Imus.

Imus is unapologetic. He's not afraid to speak his mind and doesn't hide from who he is. Too often in the world of journalism do people hide behind a corporate blanket in order to shield themselves from criticism.

But Imus—disagree with him as you may, and most do—is who he is. And there's nothing more important than that in journalism.

I, among with many other journalists or aspiring journalists, grew up being taught the meaning of integrity in reporting.

Now tell me, isn't it going against everything you're taught as a journalist to stray away from your thoughts and feelings because you're afraid of the public backlash that may result from it? Especially when your job is to be opinionated, as Imus' is.

Let me make it clear that I am not a racist. I do not think that black women are "nappy-headed hoes." But if Imus believes this to be true so be it. I don't think he really believes it, but if he thinks this is so in his mind he has the right, as an opinionated broadcast journalist, to say so on the air.

The network, at the same time, has just as much of a right to fire Imus for saying it, but that's a risk Imus takes.

Now I'm not ignorant. In no way do I take lightly the amount of suffering African Americans have gone through in history, and I'll never be able to fully understand it being white. However, Imus making a joke like that (or the joke about Adam Jones) is his opinion, and as I said before he has the right to state it.

If Imus were to have called members of the Rutgers women's basketball team that derogatory term to their faces, that would have been an entirely different story altogether. But Imus said it on air for a radio station. Those who disagree can state their opinions about him, or choose not to listen. It's as simple as that.

That is what freedom of speech is all about.