What does Nappy-Headed Hos mean?

Don Imus was fired for saying that on his raido show. How is it a racial slurr? Does anyone who knows please explain.

It's a racial slur as "Nappy-Headed Hos" was derived from a typical rap lyrics which is found to be extremely offensive.

PS He wasn't fired, he was discharged for 2 weeks from the radio show. He truly is an asshole as the comments were not only racially abusive, it was sexist as well.

straight meaning:
sleepy whore.
most players are black.
racist as black considered lazy(i.e sleepy)
hoes- sexist
urban slang:
nappy-not permed, uncombed small tightly coiled unkept hair usaually found with african decent people
nappy-headed hoes-> dirty(racial) whores(sexist)

ooh forgot, if it was in england, this would be diaper headed whores

Nappy-headed refers to the hair texture of african people. Like the way their hair is which looks very messy unless its groomed properly..... uniharuko super curly kapaal kya. And I'm sure you know what "hoes" mean.

I am not oozing with sympathy when it come to Don Imus because he is being held accountable for what I think was a plain stupid remark but if prejudice is what we are talking about, come on, there are far worse people than Imus. How about that raving lunatic O Reilly or that meat head Limbaugh? They don't use racist slurs or profanity but they do far more to put down minorities and non-whites every day than Imus did with that stupid remark one morning.

I have been a listener of Imus in the past. Not a regular but did catch him occasionally in the car. The guy is just a silly old geezer who talks BS most of the time - funny BS sometimes :) - and who provides little more than entertainment value.

I laud Rev Sharpton for going after him and all that but I wish the focus were really on some of the others out there who are the real scums when it comes to respect for minorities/women etc

Aftanoon Capn'
MSNNBC already canned his show. But the thing that really baffles me about this is that this is more of a sexist coment than a racist one. But at the same it has more of a Sexist connotation than a Racist one. I have yet to see any Women's Lib Org. condemn it.

Yo BC! :)

Yes, it does indeed appear that the most vocal condemnation has come mostly from the civil rights folks. I did see some of the women folks out there condemn it from a sexist perspective. I think it was Katrina Vanden Heuvel who was talking about it the other day. But I am with you, the women's organizations should have been at the front and center of this.

Anyways, this from the Nation:
#####################

Source: - http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070423/ehrenreich

Nappy-headed Hos of the World Unite!

Barbara Ehrenreich

My first thought, when the Don Imus scandal broke, was: What gives a guy with a full-frontal comb-over the right to criticize anyone's hair? Don, Don, don't you remember I am rubber, you are glue..? I had no idea what he looked like until he insulted the Rutgers women's basketball team and got all over TV, but now that I know, and now that the discourse has descended to comments about people's appearance, I see why he's been confined to radio all these years.

Of course it's the ho, not the hair, part of Imus's comment that hurts, with its suggestion of unlimited sexual availability. Dream on, dirty old man, but there's no amount of money that would win you the favors of these strong, smart, athletic young women. It was the senile lechery of his "nappy-headed ho" remark that creeped me right out. What did he think-- that it was Bring Your Dotage to Work day?

But I changed my mind when I saw the whole sequence on the news. Imus didn't utter those poisonous words in a tone of racist, misogynist, contempt, but with something that sounded like admiration. "That's some rough girls from Rutgers," he told producer Bernard McGuirk, "Man, they got tattoos ..." It was McGuirk who introduced the ho theme, responding, "'Some hardcore ho's."

More at the link above.

I don’t know about this whole issue for canning Don Imus show. May be it was good decision by MSNBC, but I feel sorry for Don. I think he was just trying to be little funny and ended up loosing his show. But one thing bothers me is about Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson asking acting like they are the Judge and Jury in this case. You know you can be black and still be racist and these two are perfect example of that. Jessie Jackson when running for President once refused to shake a person’s hand only because he was white. And Al Sharpton, well there is this whole story about Tawana Brawley case. Read this article and find how racist he is.
http://www.slate.com/id/2087557

A perfect example of how hypocrite these two are…they are yet to apologies for those Duke players and their family whom they blamed to be rapist. Imagine what they went for more than a year...

NewGuy007 -

I realize I risk rotten tomatoes for saying this, but I think Sharpton's and Jackson's agendas have both outlived their purposes in this society. Of course, I would not put Jackson and Sharpton on the same pedestal. Jackson has, for the most part, been a much more matured and mainstream person.

But if the recent past is any indicator, the future of black American leadership is probably better reflected by people like Barack Obama, Deval Patrick (Mass. Governor) and Harold Ford than by the two Reverends IMHO.

Captain, agreed on your choice of black leaders. Wished Harold Ford had won senate last year, however I have to disagree with you a little on Jackson maturity issue. Let me make my case. I was watching Sean Hannity (I know, I know…) last night. He was showing a clip of his interview with Jackson from last year and when asked what he would do if he finds that the alleged raped victim of the Duke case was lying, he had no clear answer. What about “innocent until proven guilty” rule. They rushed so fast to accuse them only coz they were white. I bet these two thugs won’t apologies to them either. If they do I’ll take my word back.

Check out this opinion poll on his firing :

Did Don Imus deserve to be fired by CBS?

Poll: - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18080360/

View/Share this post only

Hi,
Pls read this, I hope this will help you all make up your mind about the people like IMUS.


Michael J. Sorrell: Imus is a racist, and he's never hidden it

Real tragedy: that it took us so long to be outraged


06:51 AM CDT on Friday, April 13, 2007

Don Imus is a racist. Now before you accuse me of playing the race card or being a younger, taller version of the Reverends (Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton), hear me out.

At Oberlin College, our Black Studies Department taught us to define racism as possessing the power to enforce one's discriminatory views and beliefs. Don Imus clearly fits that criterion. By virtue of his position as a radio host, he had the power to attack a team full of extraordinary women. He then misused his power by labeling them "nappy-headed hos," an obviously bigoted belief.

Yes, America, Don Imus is a racist. But, let's be honest, it's why you loved him in the first place.

Mr. Imus has been the exact same guy, saying the exact same types of things for years and, for doing so, he has been handsomely rewarded. His show brought $8 million in advertising revenue last year to CBS because companies knew he had a loyal audience. Advertisers and executives wanted access to his fans.

Now, I'm assuming that these advertisers weren't interested in folks like me because I've never found the Imus brand of humor appealing or entertaining. Truthfully, I've listened to his show only by accident.

Mr. Imus is rude, ignorant and discriminatory in a very calculated and informed way. But we already knew all of this because these qualities were on full display regularly. So, while it's great that American Express, Staples, Procter & Gamble and General Motors pulled their ads from his shows – before he was fired yesterday – I can't help but wonder why they were there in the first place.

Here lies the crux of the problem: In America, racism sells. Racism has become a cottage industry. Far too many people for far too long have profited from possessing and espousing racist sentiments. Worse yet, the so-called defenders of the oppressed have carved out a nice living for themselves commenting on – without ever fully addressing – these racial robber barons.

The bitter reality of the pill Mr. Imus is forcing us to swallow is that each one of us has played a role in creating this climate. Many people in this country have a vested interest in perpetuating the stereotypes of the black community. Additionally, there is a segment of our nation that is most comfortable when receiving negative images of the black community.

If you doubt the veracity of this statement, think about the following: One, it took considerably more effort for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday to become a national holiday than it did for Three 6 Mafia to win an Oscar for a song called "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," pulled from a movie about a black pimp in Memphis. And, two, BET and MTV profit handsomely off of their constant bombardment of the nation's airwaves with music videos and television shows that are simply using hypnotic beats and catchphrases to mask the fact that they are endorsing the banality of exploitation and discrimination.

The Don Imuses of the world underscore one of the reasons why historically black colleges and universities are so important. The only way to fight ignorance and racism is with education. These schools still produce the majority of black college graduates in this country. As a society, we cannot defeat bigotry without the resources to do so. An educated populace that stands up against such behavior is our only real resource in this fight.

The real tragedy of Don Imus isn't what he said. The true tragedy of Don Imus is that it took so long for people to become outraged. I don't begrudge Mr. Imus for being a racist. I begrudge us for making him a rich one.

Michael J. Sorrell is interim president of Paul Quinn College and former staff member of former President Bill Clinton.

Double standard. Totally double standard. Listen to rap music. What do those black singers say when they want to refer to women? "Ho's!" Where is the outrage? NY Times gives a glowing review to rap music with lyrics that you cannont hear with your daughter or your son. Then the same paper comes out and says Don Imus should go. What a hypocrycy! Why is it ok for blacks to say "nigger" amongst themselves and not ok for others to say? Seriously, I am up to my eyeballs with empty "outrages." And Al Sharpton? He is # 1 racist of the USA. Al Sharpton complaining about racisms is like Nepe condemning Maoist. They are all cut from the same cloth.

Silhoutte,
Yeah Rap music glorifies the N word and calls their women Ho's ....YES. BUt you will not hear any of that in PUBLIC AIRWAVES(they are all bleeped out, ITS THE LAW ANS NO ONE IS ABOVE IT). Even if you do sometimes hear those words it is usually after 10 or 11pm when the children are supposedly asleep.
Look at what happened to Howard Stern another SHOCK JOCK. Look into his history of fines he paid in public Broadcasting. Finally he lost his battle and had to goto SATELLITE RADIO.
Same thing with PORN.... just because its out there does not mean it will also be in front page news in every news paper. The same logic goes for your reasoning of RAPmusic lyrics gloryfying that sort of language.

Another example would be bahadur. The difference is when an Indian calls us Bahadur and someone else calls us bahadur can have 2 different meanings. Why is that we get pissed when Indians call us bahadur ? Same reasoning.

I have caught the IMUS show occasioannly on MSNBC in the mornings. I personally found the show quit entertaining. He is trading barbs like that with all his guests. I think what did him in was the cumulation of all his racial and offensive cooments that he had been spewing over the years. This incident broke the poverbial camel's back.

I think he did not say it with malice nevertheless it was a very offensive and touchy thing to say considering the historical relation blacks and whites have had in this country. I think he will lay low for a few years...and will be picked up by satelite radio once the heat from this cools down...afterall he can still make money.

So good luck to the I-man. Enjoy your retirement...

Agreed shiloutte!!
Whats the big fuss about some Imus saying napy headed whores where afroamerican ppl keep on glorifying the word hoe's and Niggas and remarkably the fan base for this music trend consists majority of caucasians!!

Don Imus deserved it, but lets be honest here, after the Brawley case, Rev. Sharpton is the last person to lead cases against racism. Sharpton is a pervert and has always tried to become a messiah he never has and never will be.

Don Imus was correct in pointing out the hypocrisy when he was on Sharpton's crap show that where is his outrage when albums are produced by Hip-Hop artists degrading women and calling themselves the "N" word.

Sharpton's hypocrisy is beyond words.