Please note, from virtually every corner of the white media (and from black conservatives who are quick to let whites off the hook no matter what we do), the conversation has shifted from Imus’s racism to a full-scale assault on rap music and hip-hop. In other words, it’s those black people’s fault when one of ours calls them a name. After all, they do it themselves, and Imus can’t be expected not to say “ho” if Ice Cube has done it. At this point, I’m halfway expecting to hear Bill O’Reilly say that white folks wouldn’t have even heard words like nigger if it weren’t for 50 Cent.
Passing the Buck and Missing the Point: Don Imus, White Denial and Racism in America (Tim Wise)
Read the whole damn thing. It’ll do you good.