So shock-jock Don Imus is in the hot seat for referring to a women's collegiate b-ball team as a bunch of "nappy headed hos." And some in the black community have lined up to take their cues from the likes of Jesse Jackson and (insert heavy sigh and eye-roll here) Al Sharpton to demand Imus be fired and never be allowed to broadcast again. But that would be a mistake.
As dimwitted and racist as Imus' comments may have been, he has a right to speak his opinion. He has a right to spark debate. And for a few equally dim self-appointed activists to demand he be silenced is unAmerican and only serves to build an argument that their illconceived diatribes be silenced also. That's the way it is in America, guys... we all have a constitutional right to say what's on our minds. .... It's right there in the First Amendment. And let's understand that the purpose of that right to not to protect those who utter words that everyone wants to hear, rather, it is to protect those who utter words that are disturbing and unpopular - even if they are considered racist or sacrilegious or foment political and social dissent. In effect, the same law that protected Martin Luther King, Jr. and allowed him to speak out against racism and poverty and unequal protection of the law in cities like Montgomery, Selma and Atlanta is the same one that should protect the words spoken by Don Imus..... Granted, comparing Imus' words to King's is akin to comparing Bugs Bunny to Winston Churchill, but it's not the message that has value here, it's the right to convey the message, no matter how unpopular it may be. For it is from unpopular ideas that social and political revolutions are born.... King's words were wildly unpopular with the ruling class in Selma, Montgomery and everywhere else, yet the truth he spoke and the debate he sparked could not be ignored.... If Imus is silenced and anyone else whose words offend us or make us uncomfortable is silenced, then where can such a policy end except in universal censorship and an end to the freedom of fresh ideas.
