“The Fine Print”, by Michael Schrader

Imus’s Comments About Culture, Not Race

(Written and posted 12 April 2007)

Those who tell the truth are persecuted, and Don Imus is the latest victim. His description of the Rutgers’ women basketball team as “nappy-headed hos” had nothing to do with race and everything to do with culture. If one bothers to read the context of the remarks, one will find that it came amid a discussion of how rough-looking the players looked, with tattoos and all. During this dialogue, there was a comment made that the Rutgers’ players looked like NBA players, many of whom look like gangstas, with the implication being that the Rutgers’ players didn’t look like college students but looked like they just came from the hood.

The term “ho” connotes a woman who has no self-respect. A “ho” is the urban equivalent of trailer trash. A “ho” (and a trailer trash) is a rough, course woman. Until recently, women with tattoos were considered rough women with little self-respect, that is, trailer trash and “hos”. It is logical, then, that when you see a bunch of rough-looking black women to think that they are “hos”. (If the team had been made up of rough looking white women, then the appropriate description would have been “nappy-headed trailer trash.”)

We are judged based on our appearance, like it or not. If you are a woman, and you don’t want to be viewed as trash, then don’t get tattoos. Period. This sounds very bigoted, because it is, but I tip at a restaurant partly on how my waitress looks. If she has a nose ring or a tongue stud, then she gets a deduction. I want my waitresses to look professional, not like a whore. If a woman has such little self-respect as to pierce her body where it shouldn’t be pierced, or “shows off the goods”, or has ink injected under her skin, then I cannot respect them. I am not generous to people that I do not respect. If you look like a “ho”, you will be viewed as one, whether you like it or not. So, if you don’t want to called a “ho” or “trailer trash” or a slut or whatever, then don’t look like one.

It’s not just women that I feel that way about; men, too. Men should not wear earrings or have long hair or look like a woman. A man should look like a man. I expect that when I meet a man he is well groomed, well dressed, and can speak the language. I don’t want to see a dude whose pants are hanging off his rear, dressed like a street thug, and speaking an almost unintelligible language. I don’t care if that dud is a Rhodes scholar; I will never take him seriously. If you look like a thug you will be treated like one. It has nothing to do with race; it has everything to do with appearance.

Society is to blame for this mess. It used to be taboo to get tattoos, especially for a woman. It used to be taboo to have umpteen piercings or dye your hair unnatural colors. For the sake of diversity, for the sake of letting individuals express themselves, we have acquiesced and allowed what used to be taboo to be acceptable. Once upon a time, this country had a sense of decorum. Once upon a time, this country had people who dressed modestly and conservatively. Once upon a time, students representing schools had to follow rules of decorum and conduct. Those days are gone; we now live in a free for all where every behavior is accepted and even celebrated. The current cesspool of immorality, immodesty, crudeness, rudeness, and general lack of decency and manners is our own fault, for we allowed it to happen by eliminating the rules.

If I went to a brain surgeon who had tattoos and looked like he or she was right out of the hood, I would be seeking another brain surgeon. Yes, I am judging the book by its cover, but what else do I have to judge it by? My thinking is that if that person is stupid enough to disfigure the body God gave ‘em (by injecting dye into his or her skin, a potentially deadly process), then I don’t really trust his or her judgment with respect to my body.

I have a feeling that I am not the only person who makes judgments about people by their appearance. Obviously, Don Imus does too. What Imus said on the air was wrong, don’t get me wrong, but he is not the only one who should be blamed. Tattooed athletes who look like they just came off the street share in the blame, too. If you don’t want to be insulted and called “trash”, then don’t play the part. If you want to be respected, then you must respect yourself and exercise good common sense as to your appearance and manners. People who make themselves attractive, with respect to both appearance and manners, get respect; people who don’t get demeaned and ridiculed. Is it fair? No, but life isn’t always fair.

By your appearance and manners, you choose how to present yourself. Don’t complain about the responses you receive. You reap what you sow.

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