Project 21 on Don Imus

Darryn "Dutch" Martin, a member of Project 21, a D.C.-based black conservative group, has made a statement about Kia Vaughn's slander and character defamation lawsuit. The Rutgers University basketball star - who is also a member of the U.S. women's basketball team - is suing Don Imus, former co-host Bernard McGuirk, CBS Corporation, and CBS Radio: "As a race, blacks endured hundreds of years of slavery and then legalized segregation, brutal racism and other forms of discrimination well into the 20th century. We emerged from this hardship a stronger and better people. Now, after all that we've been through, a few unkind words from one largely irrelevant white man is causing so many of us to fall to pieces and this one person in particular to be so devastated that she has to sue for damages? This is the kind of knee-jerk victim mentality that makes us, now more than four decades past the civil rights era, look pathetic." Mr. Martin added: "This shows that too many people are still fixated on race, and I'm looking beyond Don Imus. If Ms. Vaughn and other aggrieved black women really wanted to strike a blow against the use of words like 'ho,' 'b__h' and 'trick,' they would be suing Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z and other thug rappers and the record companies that have been proliferating and profiting off this kind of language for years. Don Imus was merely doing a poor job of parroting their words."

On April 4, Imus called the team "nappy-headed hos" during his nationally syndicated show. He was fired 8 days later.

My response: I disagree with Mr. Martin. Unlike thug rappers (who I also can't stand), Don Imus specifically targeted the Rutgers University women's basketball team - who are not public figures in the usual sense. Since Ms. Vaughn is the team's star center, she was surely one of the individuals whom Imus had in mind when accusing them of prostitution after his beloved Lady Vols barely beat the young team. McQuirk called them "hard-core hos" and "jigaboos". Thus, Ms. Vaughn has legal standing to sue. However, it may be hard for her to win because the burden of proof is on her. However, Imus may settle the lawsuit to avoid frther negative publicity. On a related note, of course I've read some (presumably white) folks claim that Ms. Vaughn's lawsuit is more despicable than Imus' comments. My feminist radar is rearing up, and it is good to see more black women (and supporters) railing against sexist and racist attacks.