I am no fan of Don Imus. In point of fact, I have never heard one minute of the man’s radio show and, really, don’t even care to undertake the exercise. When he was vilified for racists comments in 2007, I could not have cared less that he was fired by his employer and was chastised by the press for insensitivity to racial issues. Other than for the ladies college basketball team he slandered (Rutgers), I had absolutely no sympathy for any of the parties involved in the entire unsavory episode.

But, personally, I have had enough with the omnipresent guillotine that the recognized racial police seem to think they wield over the heads of anyone in the public eye. If we are to have "freedom of speech" in this nation, it should be universal, uncensored and color-blind. And, gentle readers, we do not have that in America today.

"Whitey", in American society, is clearly on the run.

We have reached the point in contemporary culture where white guilt has reached the point that we (Caucasians) completely and reflexly defer to other races when it comes to what we say in public. We have assumed the default position that we, as the racial majority in this nation, do not have any solid ground to stand on when it comes to racial consciousness and, therefore, must depend on minorities to determine what can and cannot be said about the ethics of a multiethnic culture. For heaven’s sake, people, we do not even know whether to refer to members of our own nation as blacks, African-Americans, "people of color" or Negroes. Thanks to Don Imus - Part Uno, we do know that "nappy-headed ho’s" is definitely out. We also know, from discussion about the misogynistic tendencies of rap, it is fine and dandy for a black to refer to another black as a "nigga" but it is a hanging offense for anyone else to be so bold. Beyond that, someone needs to write a "how-to" manual for the ever-changing ground rules.

Conversely, when someone of color hurls racial epithets against or about the Anglo-Saxon, that person is given a free pass. If Chris Rock does a riff on Def Comedy Jam and cracks on "the toothless, tobacco-dipping, John Deere hat-wearing, truck driving redneck cracker who lives in the trailer park and gets drunk Saturday night and beats his wife and kids, makes love to his sheep herd and sleeps with Ol’ Blue," he is awarded with sustained laughter and a standing ovation for his "cutting edge, socially-conscious humor." If Martin Lawrence does a satire about Hispanics rioting with the blacks after Rodney King in Los Angeles, he gets a pass as well.

We cannot have it both ways. The only way to have rights and liberties is to make sure they are applied equally and without restrictions based on race, creed or religious beliefs. Further, when self-appointed arbiters of speech hold the ropes of the guillotine, we will always have conflict, real or imagined.

Don Imus, whipped into submission by Al Sharpton and the other moderators of public discourse, has returned to the radio. He, seeking the approval of his overseers, apparently has two black co-hosts (a man and a woman) and a black producer. Despite his new-found racial sensitivity, he is once again in the briar patch.

It seems that, while discussing the football career of one Adam "Pacman" Jones, he transgressed once more into forbidden territory. As I understand the exchange on the radio show - and I should admit that I certainly have not expended any effort beyond reading the news stories - it went something like this:

Co-Host: blah-blah-blah...and the player has been arrested 6 times during his NFL career.

Don Imus: What color is he?

Co-Host: African-American.

Don Imus: There you go. Now we know.

Immediately after the show, the "outrage" began. Mr. Jones commented for the Dallas Morning News that: ""I'm truly [as opposed to just faking it, I suppose] upset about the comments. Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans. I'm upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly [meaning, I presume, "I think they should fire his lily-white ass!"]. I will pray for him."

The Reverend Al Sharpton, after being made aware of the comments, replied something to the effect that he would investigate the remarks and make a decision in a few days as to what action should be taken.

On the next day’s show, Imus made the universally fatal error of trying to explain his remarks. He said: "What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason, I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times [Well, Don, no reason other than the obvious: he broke the law six times!]. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once" [A non sequitur to rival all non sequiturs]. He went on to say, the flurry of criticism surrounding the comments [was] "ridiculous" and said that his program's cast is now more diverse than ever - and includes a black producer and two black co-hosts. "How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?" Imus wondered aloud.

I think we all know what Don Imus was thinking, to wit, how can I spin this to make it look like I am defending a 6-time felon who plays professional football and happens to be black. Or, how can I please Al and Jesse so that I, too, can become a recognized - and heeded - defender of black sensibilities. Perhaps, I can even be awarded a NAACP "Image Award" next year for my work within and for the black community. Those, in my mind, are the answers to Mr. Imus rhetorical on-air question: "What would I be thinking?"

The word games and the triviality of it all has, sadly, reached the point where it is absolutely undecipherable. As a direct result, the lines of contention over the spoken word are irreconcilable. What is acceptable and what is not depends, principally, on the anointed umpires of racial etiquette, Sharpton and Jackson, with occasional input from the rising Tavis Smiley and Cornel West.

And, in my humble opinion, their motives are not entirely pure. I believe that their purpose in constantly raising the issue of racial correctness (a much more descriptive term than the more generic "political correctness") is to keep the acid of racism at a constant boil. It provides substance to their rabble rousing about the perpetual and unending argument that "latent racism" is the cause of all the ills that befall blacks in America. You see, when they can reference remarks made by whites that are obviously racist (see Senator Allen, Michael Richards, Don Imus, et al), no matter how isolated these people and their remarks may be, they can always seem to refute the premise that it is a lack of personal responsibility - not rampant discrimination and racism by whites - that is the primary cause for drug addiction, unwed motherhood, unemployment, violence and underachievement in the black community. And, since there is no possibility that the black leadership will ever accept anything other than racism as a root cause of the ills within the black community, nothing ever gets rationally discussed and no progress is ever made.

So, the band plays on. Whites are constantly kept on the defensive or, worse, made more resentful of minorities and, as a result, more prone to racism. Blacks are made to see racism everywhere (even when remarks and actions have no such motivation) and the wounds of the contentious interracial past are never allowed to heal. If you are constantly told that there is hatred directed at you, you will tend to see every slight, every misspoken word and every unfriendly (or even neutral) glance or stare as a manifestation of racial animosity.

Don Imus and all the other dunderheads are so tragically insignificant that is it enough to make one laugh to keep from crying. If these idiots are representative of anything, it is not latent white racism it is the dangers inherent when small minds are given large audiences.