A Little Controversy (or, Rank the Racists)

Hokay.

I'm not a big Don Imus fan. Everyone knows what he said about the Rutgers women's basketball team, and to say that on the air was, well, inexcusable. Racist? I don't know about that. I think it was slang more than anything, but probably not exactly the type of slang Imus would use in polite conversation, and certainly not the type of pronouncement to make to a national radio audience, where, perhaps, a greater level of sensitivity awareness is warranted. Imus was crucified by many, especially Al Sharpton, and was fired by CBS. Right result.

Imus was criticized yesterday for asking about the race of Pacman Jones during a conversation in which Pacman's various nightclub arrests were discussed. Imus asked what color Pacman was (and you have to assume he already knew the answer). When told that Pacman is African-American, Imus responded, "Well, there you go." Imus later explained he was sarcastically trying to point out that Pacman was being racially profiled. Sharpton was skeptical. Pacman said he'd pray for Imus.

Then, a few months ago, The Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman and Nick Faldo were talking about Tiger Woods' dominance. Faldo suggested that the only way the other Tour players had a chance to beat Tiger was to gang up on him. Taking that comment to its expected conclusion, Kelly piped in with "take him out and lynch him." Laughter. Sharpton went nuts, calling for Kelly's ouster. Kelly called Tiger and apologized. Tiger accepted. Tiger's agent blew it off. The Golf Channel first indicated that it would do nothing, then, after considering Sharpton's "entreaties," it suspended Kelly for two weeks. Shame.

Another recent ethnic/racial controversy arose during Sunday's fourth round of the men's U.S. Open golf tournament. As many of you now know, the tournament came down to a 19-hole playoff on Monday between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate (an Italian-American from Pennsylvania). Johnny Miller, a golf commentator known for saying what's on his mind (and a former U.S. Open champion), said that Rocco looks like the guy who cleans Tiger's swimming pool, and "guys with the name 'Rocco' don't get on the trophy." Miller later explained that he was referring to Rocco's "everyman" qualities. Poor judgment/choice of words? Sure. Rather like your preacher swearing during the sermon (think "Dammit, Moses." or something like that). As far as I know, Johnny still has a job. Sharpton has been absent, I guess because non-nappy Italian-Americans either are fair game, or can fend for themselves. (For the record, I like Tiger because of his amazing talent, but I really was pulling for Rocco-what a great guy.)

Can you rank the racists. Discuss what you want. It's a trick question. Sort of.