Point well taken. That's a big part of what I've been writing and saying about this issue.
Like others above, I could give a rat's rear-end about Don Imus. I've heard his show many times in the past, but could not have cared less if it was there or not. He got some interesting guests, but outside of those guests I never cared much about listening to Imus, his bits, jokes, etc. He -- like Howard Stern, and like a more favored show by Tony Kornheiser -- tended to rant too much about how he'd not been treated with enough respect, or how he'd been slighted by not getting the royal treatment by some little person somewhere. He abused the air-waves many times ranting about poor service by others when he was just as bad at serving the listeners.
Anyway, again, I don't care about Imus. I do care that he's become a scape goat over comments that basically mimic those made by one community about itself that can't be said by any one outside that community.
Again, if Blacks don't want these comments about themselves, then they are just as responsible to stop making or allowing their own to make these comments. Once they clean up their own act, then perhaps others would have more respect for their requests to treat them with respect.
I dont think anyone here is saying they should not be allowed to say those things. But by the same token, the right of free speech is not synonymous with the right to be heard. What I am saying is that they should be condemned for saying it - just as Imus was. Imus is not going to jail. But his right of free speech does have consequences and he is paying for it. The gangsta rappers are not having the same condemnation heaped upon them - and they should be.