Don Imus appears to have stepped in it again today. When Imus was talking to Warner Wolf about the news that NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones, who "has been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005," wants to drop the nickname, Imus asked, "what color is he?"
Download Just months after returning to the airwaves with a pledge to mend the wounds caused by his racist and sexist comment about a women's basketball team, Don Imus is again drawing fire for injecting race into his radio show.
During an on-air conversation Monday about the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones, Imus asked, "What color is he?" Told by sports announcer Warner Wolf that Jones, who used to be nicknamed Pacman, is "African-American," Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know."
Imus: “What color is he?”
Wolf: “He’s African-American”
Imus: Well, there you go, Now we know.”
When I first read this story earlier, I have to admit it didn't seem like a huge deal. But once you listen to the audio, it's pretty clear Imus asked the question knowing that Jones was black, like it somehow proved whatever point he was trying to make. You knew it was only a matter of time before he dug himself another hole.
UPDATE: Poor Imus is just being misunderstood.
Later Monday, Imus responded to criticism of his comments, saying he had been misunderstood.
"I meant that he was being picked on because he's black," Imus said in a statement released by his spokesman.
