So, Don Imus got fired this week for racist and sexist comments about some college basketball players. He remains a top search on Technorati and a major topic on the Sunday morning talk shows. Now, everyone is putting their spin on it. People point out that Imus has always said offensive things. Why did we get a backlash this time? Media reform activists have been talking about the role of media consolidation. People have been tying this to the developments in the Duke Lacrosse case. Yet it seems as if there are some other interesting stories to be tied in.

Keith Burris had a column in the Manchester, CT Journal Inquirer where he wrote,

You don’t get to go around calling people whores, even if you, or your fans, think it is funny. It's not civilized. It's rude. It's not nice. But maybe that's the point that’s been missed. More and more in our society, you do. Uncivilized behavior and crude, rude talk, is de rigueur.

I think Burris is on to something important here. March 30th was Stop CyberBullying day. It was a day to focus on fighting back against “uncivilized behavior and crude, rude talk”. I believe that the backlash against America’s Next Top Model is part of this push back.

On Meet the Press, this morning, the discussion about Imus centered around what David Brooks called the “Culture of cruelty” and Gwen Ifill called the “Culture of meanness”

Sixty years ago, today, Jackie Robinson stepped on to Ebbets field in a game between the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today, Major League baseball players around the country are wearing ‘42’ to honor that day. The battle against racism didn’t end that day. Nor does it end with the firing of Don Imus.

This June marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Title IX. “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” People are still fighting over Title IX. The battle against sexism didn’t end back when Title IX became law. Nor does it end with the firing of Don Imus.

Racism and sexism are still issues today. It is the culture of cruelty that amplifies this. This week, the Imus affair raised people’s awareness of racism and sexism in our country. Yet it also raised people’s awareness of the culture of cruelty and meanness.

The question is, where do we go from here? Do we stay focused on addressing racism and sexism? Do find people asking everyone in the culture of cruelty and meanness, “Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” Does this feed into discussions about where our media should be going?

Or, do we respond like children, and try to avoid dealing with issues by pointing at other places where the culture of cruelty and meanness exists and say, “But he’s doing that too”? Will we see cultural change, or will this stay in the news for only a few more days, and we’ll go back to the same old culture of cruelty and meanness that so damaged our country?