Comedian D.L. Hughley Insults Rutger's Team

I was appalled at DL Hughley’s slurs about the Rutgers basketball team on the Tonight Show, Wednesday May 2. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIqD1GCvedw)

When asked by Jay Leno what he thought of the Don Imus debacle, DLH stated that he felt Imus should not have been fired. This in itself was disappointing but acceptable as his right and privilege. But what added insult to injury was his remark that part of Imus's observation was right. He further intoned that the Rutgers team is in fact a bunch of "ugly and nappy-headed girls."

Hughley furthered his comedy schtick by emphasizing that the Rutgers team are the “ugliest nappy-headed girls" he'd ever seen. Jay Leno seemed a little aghast at DL’s comments and remarked about viewer mail he might receive. But DL Hughley seemed unconcerned – even a bit smug about the matter.

I understand First Amendment rights in the USA, but it would seem to me that an individual who has profited so much from his acceptance by both minority and mainstream media outlets would be more sensitive to the representation of black women. Hughley could have used the moment to extol, as Dr. King observed, the content of their character. But like Imus, he chose to objectify these women from his own biased physical point of view.

Hughley could have used his considerable wit and clout to heal open wounds but instead opted to pour salt on them for the sake of a laugh or two, of which, by the way, there weren’t many. And the laughter heard was of the nervous variety. I usually find Hughley hilarious, but his remarks last night about the Rutgers team were a vicious insult and no different from Imus’s, except DLH did omit the "hos" tag in his contemptuous language.