He's also a commedian. His job is to poke fun at whoever's in the news etc. Considering that he's on the air for 20 hours a week he's had relatively few flubs. Think about what would happen if someone followed you around with a microphone and recorded everything you said. Would they get some swears? Curses? Insults? Might you even utter something racially or ethnically insensitive? Eventually they would unless you're mother Teresa or something. However, you might be smart enough to never touch the third rail which is, of course, race in america.
I'd like to be egalitarian about these things. You can say redneck or white trash all day long and no one blinks. Words can and do hurt people. Should we ban hate speach altoghther? Or only when it applies to African Americans? The City council here in NY "banned" the N word recently, with no apparent effect. The Woman who brought forth the motion said the N word 26 times in her speech to ban it. (irony alert) I think it's safe to say that if Imus had insulted any other group, his first measley apology would be accepted.
In NYC on the street you hear the N word and B word one after the other. Who is perpetrating this offense? African Americans. They chose media/music that is filled with the N, B, Ho, etc.
Isn't is also a tad bit ironic that his primary critics, Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have both done and said similar things? Sharpton falsly accused Steven Pagones of a racially charged rape! Jesse called NY "Hymietown" , gave an apology and moved on. Imus should be able to do the same.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Imus got smacked down for saying what he said. I was surprised when he said it. The usual pattern on his show is: Bernard says somthing naughty-everyone chuckles- and Imus says "tisk tisk, I can't believe you said that bernard." This time Imus failed to stop Bernard and actually added on to what he was saying. Was Imus' racism slipping out? Probably, but I don't think he should lose his job over it.