Someone Needs to Remind Jemele Hill What She Said About Don Imus

ESPN announced today that Jemele Hill would be "relieved of her duties" (read: suspension) which, I suppose, means we are all supposed to forget what happened, move on with our lives and wait until she fires out her next column, which is almost guaranteed to be something other than edgy.

But it should at least be pointed out that while she serves her suspension, Hill herself found a similar punishment to Don Imus unacceptable enough to fill up a full column on Page Two (emphasis mine).

If it were up to me, security would have escorted the longtime radio jock out of his CBS Radio cocoon with belongings in tow days ago. But for now, I'll have to settle for a two-week suspension that doesn't begin until next week. That'll show him.

Days have passed since Imus, executive producer Bernard McGuirk and sports announcer Sid Rosenberg took turns taking cheap shots at the Rutgers women's basketball team, but I'm still boiling because too many people continue to defend Imus behind lame free-speech arguments -- remember, speech is free, but consequences are not -- and the idea that black women just don't know a good joke when they hear one.

There was nothing funny about Imus' statement. And Hill's comparison of pulling for the Celtics to painting Adolf Hitler as a victim (not to mention her pulling for the Celtics: rooting for a pedophile to escape To Catch a Predator analogy on her personal blog) is just as humorless.

We all make mistakes. But any attempt by Hill to chalk up her Hitler comments to humor, free speech or ignorance flew out the window the second she wrote this article on Imus.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-18-2008 @ 3:15AM

Sede Vacante said...

I must say - I am shocked ! Stunned. What happened Kobe? I mean really? What is going on? I expect a major move again this offseason for the Lakers. Danny Ainge is really good GM.

Anyhow I hope they did not get tired on the Airflight, that is a LONG trip and you need all the rest in the NBA FINALS.

I am a Big NBA Fan, but I wanted a closer match-up. Poor Lakers. I guess the Refs could not cheat to force a Seventh Game because of the David Stern-Tim Donaghy Scandal? Any ESPN Insights on that one?

I also think perhaps, so it seems, that the Lakers wore "Sede Vacante" Caps or maybe I should "Mente vacante" Baseball hats? I mean really:

http://www.zazzle.com/vatican_baseball_cap_hat-148990466825652270

All I know the "Big Three" (Pierce, Garnett, Allen) went to the Vatican in Rome, Italy before the season with Doc Rivers to find a Common Basketball Philosophy, I am not sure what happened there? Anyone know about the Vatican-Roma Camp the Celtics had? I know Kobe's dad owns a team, I think in Milano? Maybe there is some special Latin Tridentine Mass Papal Ritual they attended to bless their Record Season?

Where were all the Hollywood Stars cheering on LA? I mean everyone loves to "jump on" the Hollywood Bandwagon, right? Like for example, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Mike Huckabee, Chuck Norris Timothy Henneberry, George Michael, Anthony Hopkins, Robert De Niro, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Don Johnson, Clarence Kelly, Michael Bishop, Magic Irving Johnson, Sylvester Stallone, Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George W. Bush, Vince Young, Michael Vick, T.O., Kenyan West, Britney Spears, Monsignor Georg Gänswein, Sean O'Malley, Bernard Law, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama, John McCain, Tony Blair, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Guy Richie, Mon. Bernard Fellay SSPX, Tom Delay, Howard Stern, Tony Armani, Eddie Murphy, Tom Hanks, etc.

I mean really, this was suppose to be the BIG TIME Lakers vs Celtics Rivalry FINALS, and I did not see many Hollywood Stars and other Celebrities at the Boston Garden there,why? DId David Stern and Senator Specter deny them invitations? Is Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens banned from NBA Games? Or is it traditional for them to need to receive an "Universal Indult", you know, to get into the Front Row Seats?

The crowd booed David Stern, is that Anti-Semitic? I felt weird.

Anyhow, Congrats to Paul Pierce (a LA Boy) -- we all can cheer for him, he is a secret-Lakers fan, I heard from a certain unknown Rafa Erofadaps,

Shhh!

NBA is Fantastic.

I can't wait for the Olympic Games in China, I hope Kobe plays.

- Jason "Sede Vacante" McMichaels

6-18-2008 @ 8:14AM

rt said...

STFU Sede Vacante. Try staying on topic, perhaps by saying something like "Jemele Hill is an idiotic, no-talent assclown who should have been out of work years ago".

6-18-2008 @ 11:08AM

greg said...

Fire her now./

6-18-2008 @ 11:17AM

PantsB said...

Imus deserved to be fired.
Hill deserves to be fired even more so (regardless of whether she called for Imus's firing or not).

6-18-2008 @ 12:24PM

gildengorin said...

Her statements on Imus put the nails in her own coffin. She deserves to be fired and ESPN should have the moral aptitude to do it swiftly. Why would they want to be associated with someone of her character as a representation of the network?

6-18-2008 @ 6:06PM

Crawford said...

Toucher & Rich, on WBCN 104.1 in Boston, basically broke this story yesterday and then took it upon themselves to spearhead an outcry against Hill so give thanks to them for finally standing up to hypocrites like her. What she said was wrong and pretty stupid, but to write something like that after leading the charge against Imus to get fired a year ago just makes no sense. I love watching people flip flop on an issue when the same lapse in judgment they outcried over happens to them. Just as she called for nothing less than a firing of Imus, we should do the same for her... Or do you not believe in what comes out of your own mouth Jemele?

6-18-2008 @ 11:55PM

Wenalway said...

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=79&aid=102266

"Faculty"

6-19-2008 @ 1:13AM

George B Vieto said...

I guess Jemele Hill found out that what she sows so shall she reap. She was offended by Don Imus insult of the Rutgers women's basketball team and she didn't learn her lesson on if you don't anything nice to say don't say anything at all.

6-19-2008 @ 2:22PM

megan said...

I'm all for free speech and there isn't enough of it in this country, but when you call for someone else to be fired for a "joke" then you should be fired without a question for something that was not a "joke." Because the person making the statement is female and black is no reason not to fire her. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way and if she does get fired, I would expect to see a lawsuit filed on her behalf.

6-25-2008 @ 2:17PM

smirking revenge said...

Up yours, she spoke the truth from her Detroit heart. It's what Bill Simmons does with tepid passive agressive crap.

6-26-2008 @ 3:56AM

Sean said...

I wrote to Jemele Hill when the initial Imus nonsense started up. I made one of those 'lame' free-speech arguments she's so pissed about. I got back about the nastiest response you would ever expect from someone who's getting their checks signed by Disney (which in retrospect, I really, really wish I had not deleted). Anyway, I knew she was a big hypocrite then...is it wrong that I am really enjoying this turn of events???