Response to Imus

Award-winning newspaper columnist Jason Whitlock is the only member of the panel who wants to "thank" Don Imus. In a recent article, he wrote, "Thank you, Don Imus. You've given [the black community] an excuse to avoid our real problem."

Jason says the negative portrayal of black women in the hip-hop culture has fostered many harmful stereotypes. "Our real problem is that we're not willing to accept responsibility for our role in this [problem]," he says. "We've allowed our kids to adopt a hip-hop culture that's been perverted and corrupted by prison values. They are defining our women in pop culture as bitches and hos. … We are defining ourselves. Then, we get upset and want to hold Don Imus to a higher standard than we hold ourselves to. That is unacceptable."

Until black men and women develop a deeper sense of self-respect, Jason says they can't expect respect from others. "In the history of mankind, no one has ever received more respect than they're willing to give themselves," he says.