“It continues around the notion that Black women are whores. It is also implemented around discussion of poor women and how sexually promiscuous they are as opposed to not [working legitimate] jobs,” says Mullings. “Imus is a crude example but similar examples [of sexist and racist commentary] exist in the congressional records.”
Dr. Benjamin Chavis, president of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, and rapper industry pioneer Russell Simmons issued a joint statement saying the comparison between Don Imus and hip-hop artists was unreasonable.
“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,” said Simmons.
Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell, the associate professor of politics and African American Studies at Princeton University, provides a historical context to the phrase “nappy-headed hos.” Comparing Black women to the biblical character of Jezebel, she writes on blackprof.com that Black women have been victims of a racist, patriarchal society.
“During slavery Jezebel excused the profit-driven sexual exploitation of Black women… The point here is that Jezebel is more than a demeaning and false stereotype of Black women… Inaccurate portrayals of women’s lives and characters are intentional, not accidental. Myth advances specific economic, social and political motives.”
— By Shilpa Banerji
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