By Daniel Pryzbyla
Columnist EdNews.org

For the 10 young women and coach of Rutgers University winning NCAA championship basketball team this year, their heroic efforts and celebration were sadly cut short. No Hollywood director could have scripted such a ruinous aftermath.

"Last week our university family was focused on celebrating the amazing performance of our Scarlet Knights women's basketball team in the NCAA tournament," said University President Richard L. McCormick. "The team brought pride and excitement to our university and captured the hearts of people across the state and nation. Our student-athletes and their coach deserved to feel immensely proud of what they had just accomplished, but they had that moment stolen away by the racist, sexist remarks of radio personality Don Imus and his colleagues."

Rutgers University women basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer was equally distraught. "To serve as a joke of Mr. Imus in such an insensitive manner creates a wedge and makes light of the efforts of these classy individuals, both as women and as women of color. It is unfortunate Mr. Imus sought to tarnish Rutgers' spirit and success. Should we not, as adults, send a message of encouragement to young people to aspire to the highest levels as my team did this season?"

No doubt, most try to. For certain, that's one of the enviable goals coaches and classroom educators aspire to within their respective physical boundaries and other confines. Thereafter comes the "certainty of uncertainties." For Imus, he often unleashes his vile inner-self, satisfying his listeners who won't/can't. "That's some nappy headed hos there," the 66-year old, $8-10 million annual salaried "shock jock" had joked during the NCAA game while on air. ("Hos" meaning "whore" or "prostitute.") Imus' radio show "Imus in the Morning" originates from WFAN-AM in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One. Both are managed by CBS Corp. MSNBC simulcasts the show on cable, and is part of NBC Universal – owned by General Electric.

The team's players, wrote Associated Press reporter Rebecca Santana in Yahoo News April 10, 2007, said they hoped the scandal would serve as an opportunity to speak up for women and give a voice to issues such as racism and sexism, but acknowledged that it also "served as a reminder of just how much work needed to be done." "The Rutgers university women's basketball team has made history," said Essence Carson, a junior forward on the team. "We haven't done anything to deserve this controversy, and yet it has taken a toll on us mentally and physically."

Rev. Irene Monroe, a columnist for Blackcommentator.com, stated April 12, 2007, "When a disparaging comment such as Imus' is accepted as a joke or brushed aside as distasteful humor and not acknowledged for what it is – hate speech, it closes the window of opportunity to educate. But in the competitive world of the broadcast industry, where ratings compute into corporate sponsorships, this shock jock, whose off-colored remarks and politically incorrect acid-tongue is his signature, has one of the top shows in the business.

"While no one wants to be the butt of Imus' acerbic jokes," the African-American feminist theologian continued, "his no holds barred humor has peculiarly both entertained and offended millions, broadcasting on more than 70 stations across the country and simulcast on cable station MSNBC. Imus' offensive behavior has increased his viewers by 40 percent last year."

"What's going on here?" asked Richard Muhammad, editor of Straight Words E-Zine based in Chicago in his blackagendareport.com article April 11, 2007. "Perhaps the easiest way to explain it is found in the title of Mark Starr's on-line Newsweek column, 'Imus is Us.' The 'us' here consists of White America – white men in the media, in particular – unable to admit insults to Black folks actually mean something. It's as if we are soulless beings and whites are always allowed to explain away, ridicule away, or ignore away the constant assaults on our dignity and psyche." Muhammad reminded readers "Imus also referred to (now PBS) reporter Gwen Ifill, a respected African American journalist, as a 'cleaning lady.'"

Although now officially removed from the airwaves by his former employers, there has been little – if any – historical baggage of the aging "shock jock" mentioned by reporters or news media focused on non-stop Imus updates.

Scanning the Google search engine, Biography.com (copyright 2007, A &E Television Networks) presents some revealing info about his early years in California and Prescott, AZ. "He was born John Donald Imus, on July 23, 1940, in Riverside, CA. After a self-described 'horrible adolescence' in which he changed schools frequently, and his parents divorced when he was fifteen, he left high school, joined the Marine Corps and the Marine band."

After his discharge at the age of nineteen, according to the bio, Imus had unsuccessful stints as a window dresser, and as a rock-n-roll musician with his younger brother Fred. For a time, he was homeless and found shelter in Laundromats. In 1961, Imus hitchhiked to Arizona, where he worked in uranium and copper mines, made another attempt at a recording career, and worked as a brakeman for Southern Pacific Railroad. An injury sustained on the job earned him a cash settlement and a chance to the music he and his brother loved and worked as a disc jockey.

Imus made a big move to WNBC in New York City in 1971, where he started "Imus in the Morning" and continued his brand of "insult humor." No one was exempt from his ridicule, including the station's management and his own sponsors. Though at the top of his game on-air, his bio noted, Imus battled addictions to alcohol and drugs, and became unreliable and difficult to work with. He was fired in 1977 for his conduct. Imus made his first stab at recovery, returned to Cleveland "to clean up his act," and was subsequently brought back to New York in 1979, only to return to his addictions. According to the website, "his morning show thrived nonetheless for a few years, but competition from FM stations threatened. Imus' health continually declined and in 1987, he finally sought treatment." If these weren't "red flag" precautions, what were they?

It is doubtful Imus even bothered to do any research on the Rutgers women's basketball team and their coach prior to attending the NCAA championship game. This, of course, is routine for professional sports announcers. Likewise, he probably never took the time to know Rutgers University, a member of the Big East Conference. It has a unique history, chartered originally in 1766, before the American Revolution. Rutgers "College" became the land-grant college of New Jersey in 1864. According to its web site, the university is now made up of 29 degree-granting divisions; 12 undergraduate colleges, 11 graduate schools, and three schools offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Five are located in Camden, NJ, seven in Newark, and 14 in New Brunswick/Piscataway.

Perhaps to his chagrin, some pre-game investigation into the web site would have also unearthed Rutgers most famous and accomplished alumni – African American Paul Leroy Robeson. In 1915, he was awarded a four-year academic scholarship to Rutgers University. He was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Rutgers' Cap & Skull Honor Society. Robeson was valedictorian of his graduating class in 1919 and later was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters on his 75th birthday in 1973.

In addition to his academic achievements, Robeson had an outstanding athletic career as the first Black football player at Rutgers, winning 15 varsity letters in baseball, football, basketball, and track and field. He was named to the All-American Football Team twice, in spite of open racism and violence expressed by even his teammates. In 1995, he was inducted posthumously into the College Football Hall of Fame.

In 1923, Robeson earned a law degree from Columbia Law School. There, he met his wife Eslanda Cordoza Goode. Later, he decided to use his artistic talents in theatre and music to promote African and African-American history and culture. His success on the stage included "Othello," which was hailed by some critics as one of the play's greatest interpretations. He starred in 13 films between the 1920s and early 1940s, but decided to stop making movies until there were better opportunities for Blacks. Robeson used his deep baritone voice to promote Black spirituals, to share cultures with other countries, and to support the social movements of his time.

If Imus had taken time to read this brief history about Rutgers University – and its renowned graduate Paul Robeson, would he still have instigated his cruel racially specific ridicule, undermining the NCAA championship women's basketball team members and their coach's heroic efforts? Impossible to know – but good riddance.

Published April 16, 2007