Regarding Imus

Andrew from New Jersey takes me to task for my post about Imus. He writes:

Re: your comment about Imus:

“What if he’d said something similar about Jewish people? He’d be out on his ass.”

I only hear or see Imus occasionally, but my understanding is that he has in fact made what may be considered offensive comments about Jews in the past–so your premise is wrong.

Your premise, unfortunately, also suggests this: that if people make remarks about Jews, they’re history, but not so, regarding other people. It taps into a “Jewish power” myth, and it is unfortunate that, being Jewish, you would fall into that kind of thinking. There have been plenty of people who have made offensive remarks about Jews, and are still going strong despite their repugnant remarks.

I see what Andrew’s saying, and I of course don’t mean to imply that Jews rule the world and control the media. What I meant is that we seem to have reached a societal consensus that some things cannot be tolerated. Making anti-Semitic remarks, unless you’re Mel Gibson, tends to be condemned outright. If MSNBC had an anchor who said something that stereotyped Jews–like that all the girls playing basketball for Brandeis were “big-nosed JAPS”–that anchor would be dismissed immediately. I think that would be the case even for a shock jock like Imus, though the standards are different there, I admit. I don’t think we’re as knee-jerk P.C. (in a good way) about racist remarks–not because Jews have power, but because our society as a whole is not as evolved as it should be.

This is, I realize, taking us a little far afield from mental health issues. So to appease the purists, here’s a link to an article about a Brit celebrity (pictured; no more Imus photos, thanks) who suffered postpartum depression and is speaking out about it.

liz | 1:24 PM | Uncategorized