The eJustice Network

Open mouth, insert foot. Imus has demonstrated quite a skill for that.

But he's done us all a favor with his recent remarks. Because he reminds us that we still keep ourselves separate from others, and retain patterns of thought and behavior designed to emphasize the differences we perceive.

Racism and bigotry are still part of our world. We all wish they weren't, but they are. The question is, why? And what can we do about it?

Imus' statements were somewhat less overt than, say, those of Jimmy the Greek 20 years ago. But that doesn't make them any less palatable. And that's to me, a white guy raised in the 'burbs.

To someone who's black and raised in a nation where being black was for a long time treated as a crime, I can well understand being taken aback by any remark. But then, many of those who are railing against him climbed the ladder of reverse racism to claim their fame by bashing white folks.

Let's face it. It's not like derogatory remarks are anything we don't hear often in one form or another. And unlike the remarks of Imus or others with a podium who let their innermost thoughts slip, most of such statements go unnoticed.

Worse, they're widely accepted.

After all, who's going to get upset if you tell a Polish joke? Or say something about women drivers? Or make some off-color remark about gays?

Do you really think it's any different than ragging on lawyers? Or politicians? Or Mexicans or farmers or hillbillies?

We look for ways to be different, to celebrate our uniqueness, and lump those who belong to some group other than our own in into stereotypes that make it easy to vent our frustrations and upset.

Yet, we really don't believe all we say, do we? I mean, I'll bet if you try hard enough, you can even find a lawyer or two that you like and respect.

Unfortunately, sometimes even the most open-minded among us can seize upon those differences and let slip the product of a lifetime's worth of frustrations that have built up inside. It's just too bad that when we do, it's often at the expense of another's feelings, and even our own sensibilities.

Imus was just another in a long line of stupid, insensitive people with a platform who said the wrong thing. Maybe he is a racist. Maybe he is a bigot that finally came out of the closet.

But I'd be willing to bet that Imus isn't really much different than anyone else who makes stupid remarks from time-to-time to prove they're better than someone from another group. Or at least different.

If we're going to bash Imus, then we should also bash all those others of all races, all colors, and all creeds, who make remarks about others who aren't the same as them. Whether they're couched in slang and street epithets, or the King's English.

But please, when the bashing starts, I hope you'll take it easy on us potato-farming hillbillies of Scotch-Irish ancestry. We may turn our backs on being called toothless country bumpkins. But not on being lumped in with the Brits and Welsh.

And lest you're cruisin' for a bruisin', take note. Any suggestion we marry our cousins are fightin' words.

I didn't. At least, so long as Laura's not from the Puerto Rican side of the family that my parents didn't tell me about.