Will Don Imus pay his due? Part 2 - 8.15.2007.2

Continued from Will Don Imus pay his due? Part 1...

Some might say the team deserves the 20 million dollars that Imus just won. Some might say that Imus is a multi-millionaire and won’t miss the money. They would be right that he is rich, but they would be wrong in presuming that his contractually obligated pay is due these women. The pain and suffering they are currently undergoing will not follow them for the rest of their lives. The embarrassment while severe is not going to prevent them from becoming a successful lawyer or doctor or scientist or President of the United States. It will make life in college during the near term harder to get dates, or study or not be the butt of a joke by a drunken frat kid. So I do believe they deserve monetary reimbursement but not excessive amounts.

In America today money determines almost everything. It determines where you live, what job you get, the friends you can have or do keep and so much more. In this case money in the form of Imus’ job was the reason for an unprovoked attack. It should be money that sends the same message to Imus, CBS, and the media industry across the nation. Impacting the bottom line will stick in the memory of all those individuals far longer than comments from Reverend Al Sharpton, newspaper articles, and a huge number of angry bloggers. Take profits away from the shareholders and changes happen over night. Its one of the great things about the American economy and business environment.

I think that it would be a great slap in the face to Don Imus and his former employers that these women take their money and achieve certificates representing their attainment of prominence in various intellectual fields. CBS told Imus to insult people for a living, create controversy, and be mean. Imus decided to be mean and pushed the envelope many times in his career; finally creating enough of an uproar with this last act. Perhaps the best way to prove this corporation, this man, and those listeners and supporters wrong is the realization of success these women can do. But to just throw money at them and take away one of the motivations why they went to college serves them no good nor their communities nor America as a whole.

There is an Ancient saying:

“You can feed a man a fish and he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish he will feed himself for a life time.”

These women should have every opportunity to be taught how to fish and not be given a boat full of fish.

This is what I think, what do you think?

What you don't see on television - 3.14.2007.3

I have spoken in dozens of posts about the ability of many actors, and entertainers of all races and nationalities. There are those that are good, avereage and the very few that excel. That is not dependant on race, or religion, or any limiting factor beyond the ability they honed and were born with. To say that 70% of the American population is incapable of recognizing this fact, and unwilling, is at once both ignorant and racist. Ms. Andreeva could have stated in her article all the points I have, but did not. Ms. Andreeva could have posed the questions I have, and chose not to. Perhaps there was more and it was edited out. If so I am sorry that better content was not allowed. Perhaps this was the only way that the article could have been published, as a tone more like my own is too harsh for the seemingly fragile nature of some executives in dealing with reality. If so I would have chosen to not have it published. Maybe this is why the growth of my blogs (while exceptional) is less than some of my peers. If that is the case then I am glad for the niche I am building. But I will not sit back and read what sounds like an apology for trying to promote African American, Latino/Hispanic and other minorities on broadcast television.

Nor will I quietly accept the latest trend of including a mandatory single Black American, Latino/Hispanic, and at least one woman (often combining two of these in one person) in a supportive or ensemble role, as some fulfillment of an implied quota proving that television has broken down the unspeakable iron grip on a vision of America that existed at least half a century ago. As I have stated in previous posts, by my calculations there are about 2% of all characters in a co-lead or support role that are a minority in broadcast television. That is abysmal when the reality walking out the door is that of 27% or 1 in 4.

Perhaps in an America that segregated it’s schools, and denied the rights of millions of its citizens such a view was acceptable. Thankfully that time has long passed. In a world where Secretaries of State, Heads of the Joint Chiefs, Congressmen and women, and potentially the President of the United States are African American, Latino/Hispanic and every minority found in America, to say that 70% of the popularion is incapable of accepting a leading actor not exactly the same color as themselves is both unacceptable and in my eyes a blatant lie.

This is what I think, what do you think?