Imus is ass-out at CBS, but the controversy over whether hip-hop is to blame when White man remove their Klan’s hood in public rages on.

Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, of The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, also issued statements. Their focus, however was on the connection Imus has made between his own controversial remarks and the language used in hip-hop music.

“Hip-Hop is a worldwide cultural phenomena that transcends race and doesn’t engage in racial slurs. Don Imus’ racially-motivated diatribe toward the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team was in no way connected to hip-hop culture. As Chairman and President of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), respectively, we are concerned by the false comparisons some in the media are making between Don Imus and hip-hop. We want to clarify what we feel very strongly is an obvious difference between the two.

“HSAN believes in freedom of artistic expression. We also believe, with that freedom, comes responsibility. Don Imus is not a hip-hop artist or a poet. Hip-hop artists rap about what they see, hear and feel around them, their experience of the world. Like the artists throughout history, their messages are a mirror of what is right and wrong with society. Sometimes their observations or the way in which they choose to express their art may be uncomfortable for some to hear, but our job is not to silence or censor that expression. Our job is to be an inclusive voice for the hip-hop community and to help create an environment that encourages the positive growth of hip-hop. Language can be a powerful tool. That is why one’s intention, when using the power of language, should be made clear. Comparing Don Imus’ language with hip-hop artists’ poetic expression is misguided and inaccurate and feeds into a mindset that can be a catalyst for unwarranted, rampant censorship.”

The bottom line, the long-spanning history of racism in America at the hands of Whites towards Blacks, Native Americans, Jews, Hispanics, the list goes on, makes it impossible for White people to make the same remarks to us that we make to each other without appearing racist. And African-Americans shouldn’t be blamed for that, blame American history. Just a fact of life, along with the fact that some women really are bitches and hoes (SHOCKER). Get over it, White people.

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