What Mr. Imus should do next!

By Dr. Leo and Julie Parvis 

Dr. Leo: Don Imus is not quite as unbearable as some of the other radio personalities when it comes to race and culture. Yet, I had this feeling he might drop the ball one day. So he did on April 4 when he made a horrible comment about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team (we don’t need to repeat it here, everyone knows by now what he said). In his show as a so-called “shock-jock,” Imus picks on many people and subjects to please his listeners and make them laugh. However, there has to be some limits…where’s the common sense and a sense of respect and decency? These young women have worked so hard to get where they are and they deserve our praise, not racist and sexist remarks!   

You would think Imus would be smart enough to know better than to mess around with sensitive issues such as religion and people’s race and ethnicity.  We realize that it is his job to be obnoxious and we respect his freedom of speech, but come on, Imus, have some sensitivity to know when you have gone too far! This should be a huge wake up call for Imus, and other media personalities to think before they speak. We don’t think a two-week suspension is nearly long enough to show the country that there are repercussions for your actions. We think the suspension should be more like 6 months, and during those six months he should be doing volunteer work with people who need help. He should get away from his millionaire lifestyle and see how the majority of people live; do something good with his life for a change and help others. Learn some humility and respect for his fellow human beings.   

We work so hard every day to promote positive messages about diversity, and people like Imus undermine our work so quickly. Yesterday, I was the guest of Jazz 88, FM radio attending the quarterly meeting of the Ascertainment Group, which consists of 12 members of the Twin Cities metro area TV and radio stations. The purpose was to remind the media of what they are missing when they address the public, what stories we would like to see covered, etc.  My point of view of course, was related to cultural diversity. I shared with them 10 points to better serve the public in relation to general diversity education. So, here there is this one side of the media that are respectful of our multicultural society and trying to find out how to better serve their diverse audiences and then on the flip side there are idiots like Imus who needs to educate himself and his co-hosts to be cognizant of the respect and tolerance our diverse populations deserve in this great country. 

Julie: If Mr. Imus were to hire our company to help him get through this, we would do a number of things. We would make sure he not only publicly apologized to the team, but also to their school, their coaches, their parents, and the general population. We would have him send these audiences appropriate letters and go on the air to apologize.  We would have him go through an intensive diversity training, have him read our book, and hopefully make him a better person who would understand the complexities of cultural diversity and learn to respect people for who they are, no matter what race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity or religion they represent. 

We would have him buy and wear our Embrace Diversity T-shirts or our denim or twill shirts with our embroidered logo for him and his staff so they could be helping us to spread the message about embracing diversity. We would have him hang our posters up all over his studio and the station so they would be reminded that we are all the same under our skins, with the same feelings, needs, and wants. We would have him and his staff using our Embrace Diversity coffee mugs to further support the message. And we would have him do a fundraiser for a nonprofit group who helps diverse populations by selling our Embrace Diversity products, so he could have the satisfaction of knowing something good came out of his stupidity.  

Mr. Imus: nobody is perfect. You have now joined the ranks of other apologetic celebrities like Michael Richards, Isaiah Washington, Mel Gibson and others who have come to learn that we will not accept these kind of remarks from anyone in this day and age, “shock-jock” or not. Our beautifully diverse society requires respect and consideration, especially from those in the public eye. Why don’t you go a step beyond the others and really do something positive to show you “get it.”  Check out our website, maybe you will learn something (http://www.diversitypromotions.com/).  October 5^th is National Diversity Day; we suggest you do something to commemorate it on your radio show. This two-week suspension is a good opportunity to educate yourself; if you need help, all you have to do is ask, and we’ll be happy to oblige.