DJ Fired for Discussing Interracial Relationships
from hiphopmusic.com - Potential Subject?
March 23, 2004
Raqiyah Mays Fired from Power 105, for Discussing Interracial Relationships
For anyone wondering if the neo-puritan climate would affect political speech as well as the sexual, Clear Channel's hip-hop station in NY has removed all doubt. I may disagree with her take on the issue, but firing her for discussing it is crazy.
DJ Fired for Race Remark
Weekend jock Raqiyah Mays was fired yesterday by WWPR (105.1 FM) after criticizing interracial dating during her weekend show. Power-105 officials said in a statement that the station "decided to release her based upon inappropriate remarks she made to listeners during her broadcast on Saturday.
"The station received many E-mails, phone calls and messages from listeners who were displeased and felt alienated as a result of her actions."
Mays' comments on interracial dating came while she was running a station contest in which listeners could win tickets to an Usher concert by making a confession. "Confession" is the title of Usher's latest record, which has sparked heavy buzz in radio.
"I made a confession of my own," Mays said yesterday. "I said I was concerned about interracial relationships when the African-American community has our own inner work and healing to do. If I see a white woman dating an African-American man, I feel, as do many African-American women, that there is one less black man available to us." The host of a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift on Saturdays, Mays said she was shocked by getting the boot from the Clear Channel station. She claimed she was the victim of a "climate of pins and needles" stemming from the firestorm over indecency following the Janet Jackson and Howard Stern controversies. "I wasn't speaking against anybody," Mays said. "I was just being honest. Unfortunately, the industry is under FCC scrutiny and the climate is ripe for reactionary measures."
EDIT, 3/26/04: Since I made this post, a transcript has come out of her original comments on the radio show, and they turn out to go much further than she would have us believe in her explanation I'd posted above:
"I'm a racist. I really am. I have a problem with white people. Not all white people, but a lot of white people. ... I can't tell if they are being real with me or not. And then I hate when the black guy is walking down the street with the white girl. I hate both of them. C'mon, there's a man shortage, why you got to go ... "
As I said in the replies below, seeing these actual quotes makes her explanation that she was merely "expressing concerns" about a need for "healing" seem a little disingenuous, and make it a tougher call whether she should have gotten fired. I'd want to hear the program in its entirety before I judged that, hear the tone of the overall conversation, what came before and after, whether it was part of a discussion where her views could be balanced out by others..
Going by this transcript, I'm still inclined to say firing her was excessive, but it's not as clear-cut as it originally appeared.. hard for me to say that some type of disciplinary action wasn't appropriate.
And for the record, personally I don't see how asking two people who are in love to reject that love because one of them is the wrong color will ever do any good for anybody, or bring about healing of any sort.
Posted by jsmooth995 at March 23, 2004 03:26 PM | TrackBack
Comments
Hmm,
How can you disagree with a feeling? I don't think that anything she said was wrong. As a Black woman I believe she was only expressing her concern, whether real or imagined. Doesn't sound like she was saying that interracial dating is wrong.
It's terrible that Clear Channel is going so far to the right that even simple free thought is under fire.
Posted by: METALFACE at March 23, 2004 04:14 PM
Absolutely correct. I think she's full of shit on the issue (though she's completely on point about the "climate of pins and needles"), but she's got every right to an opinion, and I would have liked to have heard what some callers from interracial couples had to say.
Posted by: echillri at March 23, 2004 04:22 PM
I said I "may" disagree with her take, I can't form a conclusion on that without hearing the original discussion. But her choice to express it as a "feeling" does not render her statement immune to criticism. She has every right to feel how she feels about it, and I have every right to feel differently. If we let ourselves be guided by feelings and emotions without a thought for whether they are grounded in sound reasoning, most of us would probably be in jail by now for killing our landlord. We shouldn't be afraid to express our feelings, but we shouldn't be unwilling to examine and scrutinize them either.
Which is exactly why the discussion she was initiating needs to be encouraged, not silenced.
Posted by: Jay Smooth at March 23, 2004 04:44 PM
if i owned the radio station she was on, i'd fire her too.
Posted by: robert at March 23, 2004 05:01 PM
Was it inappropiate? Yes. Racist? No. I think she was just stating the feelings of a majority of African Americans. I know my family would shit a brick if I came home with a white woman. That's just how it is.
However, to express her view during the middle of a radio show is pretty low. It was a cheeky promo contest, not a political forum.
Posted by: Stone at March 23, 2004 05:28 PM
I propose an Admendment to the Constitution ..... Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are your rights...so long as your veiws are in line with the moral majority and your happiness isnt with the same sex... that way I can feel better about hearing stories like these.
Posted by: Belve at March 23, 2004 05:55 PM
to be very blunt she was honest and true. Maybe it was wrong for her to say that. But I don't think she should of been fired for that.
Posted by: mallymal at March 23, 2004 06:42 PM
Funny, I saw her say on UPN/Channel 9 news that she's a "racist" and that she "hates" inter-racial couples. That's a world of difference between being "concerned" and "hating." I don't fault Clear Channel for making an obvious choice in the face of Repugnant over-reaction at the FCC.
Now if they'd only feel the same about the homophobic antics of their other DJs.
Posted by: ronn at March 23, 2004 11:56 PM
first, i don't think she should define herself as a racist, that is if she or we define the word correctly. but, she has every right to voice her opinions/feelings. she was voicing what many people-black and white-feel. but, i would encourage her to not give it so much energy. most of the black men who choose white women are the ones many black women wouldn't want anyway. for instance, the couple that was shown on tv last night "confessing" their love: the black guy with the fat white girl.
Posted by: Billy at March 24, 2004 01:03 PM
I see black men with white women all the time. It doesn't really bother me because one of my best friends who was black dated a white girl for some time and they made each other happy. If you are happy with someone it shouldn't really matter what the color of their skin is. She should of definately have been fired because we take everything personal. If she wasn't fired no one would listen to that radio station anymore, Considering the fact that half the listeners are white.
Peace n Love, Nelson
Posted by: Nelson at March 24, 2004 04:40 PM
As for getting fired, I see it as an extreme. But the comment was definitely inappropriate. I'm tired of all these issues with interracial dating. NOBODY has the right to decide whom another person should be dating. If a black man wants to date a white woman and vice versa that's their choice. People act as if there were only 10 black men left in the world. Additionally, in a sense it is a form of racism because the conflict is with two RACES dating.
Posted by: Free at March 24, 2004 04:45 PM
It was harsh comment but worse have been made. If we were not in such a sensitve fcc enviorment she would have been ok. It was a gutsy comment to make but, it is how she feels.
Posted by: Bry at March 24, 2004 05:14 PM
People who are happy in an interacial relationship don't care what anyone else thinks.
They should not have fired her for expressing her opinion.
Posted by: lex at March 24, 2004 05:40 PM
You guys have GOT TO BE KIDDING me! She's definitely RACIST. During the live radio segment she said herself "I'm a racist. I really am. I have a problem with white people. Not all white people, but a lot of white people...I can't tell if they are being real with me or not. And then I hate when the black guy is walking down the street with the white girl."
Sure that's expressing an opinion but how would you feel if a DJ said hey "I'm a racist and proud of it. The KKK should kick them all out of this country" Do you think that opinion would stand and would you tolerate it???
Answer that Lex, mallymal, stone, echillri, METALFACE!!!
Posted by: Borg at March 24, 2004 07:54 PM
Actually, this article is much softer than her actually quotes. I saw the story and they played her actual segment on Channel 9 News here in New York area. She said openly, I have a confession. She said "I hate White People" and then she went on to say, 'I hate when I see Black men with White Women…I hate them too' I'm paraphrasing in the last part - but she did use those words. Now, I don't want to be a hypocrite - I share her concerns somewhat, I don't hate all White people - but I am resentful & distrusting of Caucasians as a race based on history. I'm a Black male & I don't and will not date women outside the African Diaspora. As a Black Male I respect our ancestory, our experience here in America and our current struggle to take what assets I have & gained from my community -- and abandon them for another. But when you're in the media outlet - you have to be careful of your views and wording as such. If Gumba Johnny had said "I hate Black people….and when I see Black men with White women I just hate that ….I hate them,", we would be calling for his firing. Now would we get it or not is another matter. But we have to careful of double-standards in our plight against racism.
March 23, 2004
Raqiyah Mays Fired from Power 105, for Discussing Interracial Relationships
For anyone wondering if the neo-puritan climate would affect political speech as well as the sexual, Clear Channel's hip-hop station in NY has removed all doubt. I may disagree with her take on the issue, but firing her for discussing it is crazy.
DJ Fired for Race Remark
Weekend jock Raqiyah Mays was fired yesterday by WWPR (105.1 FM) after criticizing interracial dating during her weekend show. Power-105 officials said in a statement that the station "decided to release her based upon inappropriate remarks she made to listeners during her broadcast on Saturday.
"The station received many E-mails, phone calls and messages from listeners who were displeased and felt alienated as a result of her actions."
Mays' comments on interracial dating came while she was running a station contest in which listeners could win tickets to an Usher concert by making a confession. "Confession" is the title of Usher's latest record, which has sparked heavy buzz in radio.
"I made a confession of my own," Mays said yesterday. "I said I was concerned about interracial relationships when the African-American community has our own inner work and healing to do. If I see a white woman dating an African-American man, I feel, as do many African-American women, that there is one less black man available to us." The host of a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift on Saturdays, Mays said she was shocked by getting the boot from the Clear Channel station. She claimed she was the victim of a "climate of pins and needles" stemming from the firestorm over indecency following the Janet Jackson and Howard Stern controversies. "I wasn't speaking against anybody," Mays said. "I was just being honest. Unfortunately, the industry is under FCC scrutiny and the climate is ripe for reactionary measures."
EDIT, 3/26/04: Since I made this post, a transcript has come out of her original comments on the radio show, and they turn out to go much further than she would have us believe in her explanation I'd posted above:
"I'm a racist. I really am. I have a problem with white people. Not all white people, but a lot of white people. ... I can't tell if they are being real with me or not. And then I hate when the black guy is walking down the street with the white girl. I hate both of them. C'mon, there's a man shortage, why you got to go ... "
As I said in the replies below, seeing these actual quotes makes her explanation that she was merely "expressing concerns" about a need for "healing" seem a little disingenuous, and make it a tougher call whether she should have gotten fired. I'd want to hear the program in its entirety before I judged that, hear the tone of the overall conversation, what came before and after, whether it was part of a discussion where her views could be balanced out by others..
Going by this transcript, I'm still inclined to say firing her was excessive, but it's not as clear-cut as it originally appeared.. hard for me to say that some type of disciplinary action wasn't appropriate.
And for the record, personally I don't see how asking two people who are in love to reject that love because one of them is the wrong color will ever do any good for anybody, or bring about healing of any sort.
Posted by jsmooth995 at March 23, 2004 03:26 PM | TrackBack
Comments
Hmm,
How can you disagree with a feeling? I don't think that anything she said was wrong. As a Black woman I believe she was only expressing her concern, whether real or imagined. Doesn't sound like she was saying that interracial dating is wrong.
It's terrible that Clear Channel is going so far to the right that even simple free thought is under fire.
Posted by: METALFACE at March 23, 2004 04:14 PM
Absolutely correct. I think she's full of shit on the issue (though she's completely on point about the "climate of pins and needles"), but she's got every right to an opinion, and I would have liked to have heard what some callers from interracial couples had to say.
Posted by: echillri at March 23, 2004 04:22 PM
I said I "may" disagree with her take, I can't form a conclusion on that without hearing the original discussion. But her choice to express it as a "feeling" does not render her statement immune to criticism. She has every right to feel how she feels about it, and I have every right to feel differently. If we let ourselves be guided by feelings and emotions without a thought for whether they are grounded in sound reasoning, most of us would probably be in jail by now for killing our landlord. We shouldn't be afraid to express our feelings, but we shouldn't be unwilling to examine and scrutinize them either.
Which is exactly why the discussion she was initiating needs to be encouraged, not silenced.
Posted by: Jay Smooth at March 23, 2004 04:44 PM
if i owned the radio station she was on, i'd fire her too.
Posted by: robert at March 23, 2004 05:01 PM
Was it inappropiate? Yes. Racist? No. I think she was just stating the feelings of a majority of African Americans. I know my family would shit a brick if I came home with a white woman. That's just how it is.
However, to express her view during the middle of a radio show is pretty low. It was a cheeky promo contest, not a political forum.
Posted by: Stone at March 23, 2004 05:28 PM
I propose an Admendment to the Constitution ..... Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are your rights...so long as your veiws are in line with the moral majority and your happiness isnt with the same sex... that way I can feel better about hearing stories like these.
Posted by: Belve at March 23, 2004 05:55 PM
to be very blunt she was honest and true. Maybe it was wrong for her to say that. But I don't think she should of been fired for that.
Posted by: mallymal at March 23, 2004 06:42 PM
Funny, I saw her say on UPN/Channel 9 news that she's a "racist" and that she "hates" inter-racial couples. That's a world of difference between being "concerned" and "hating." I don't fault Clear Channel for making an obvious choice in the face of Repugnant over-reaction at the FCC.
Now if they'd only feel the same about the homophobic antics of their other DJs.
Posted by: ronn at March 23, 2004 11:56 PM
first, i don't think she should define herself as a racist, that is if she or we define the word correctly. but, she has every right to voice her opinions/feelings. she was voicing what many people-black and white-feel. but, i would encourage her to not give it so much energy. most of the black men who choose white women are the ones many black women wouldn't want anyway. for instance, the couple that was shown on tv last night "confessing" their love: the black guy with the fat white girl.
Posted by: Billy at March 24, 2004 01:03 PM
I see black men with white women all the time. It doesn't really bother me because one of my best friends who was black dated a white girl for some time and they made each other happy. If you are happy with someone it shouldn't really matter what the color of their skin is. She should of definately have been fired because we take everything personal. If she wasn't fired no one would listen to that radio station anymore, Considering the fact that half the listeners are white.
Peace n Love, Nelson
Posted by: Nelson at March 24, 2004 04:40 PM
As for getting fired, I see it as an extreme. But the comment was definitely inappropriate. I'm tired of all these issues with interracial dating. NOBODY has the right to decide whom another person should be dating. If a black man wants to date a white woman and vice versa that's their choice. People act as if there were only 10 black men left in the world. Additionally, in a sense it is a form of racism because the conflict is with two RACES dating.
Posted by: Free at March 24, 2004 04:45 PM
It was harsh comment but worse have been made. If we were not in such a sensitve fcc enviorment she would have been ok. It was a gutsy comment to make but, it is how she feels.
Posted by: Bry at March 24, 2004 05:14 PM
People who are happy in an interacial relationship don't care what anyone else thinks.
They should not have fired her for expressing her opinion.
Posted by: lex at March 24, 2004 05:40 PM
You guys have GOT TO BE KIDDING me! She's definitely RACIST. During the live radio segment she said herself "I'm a racist. I really am. I have a problem with white people. Not all white people, but a lot of white people...I can't tell if they are being real with me or not. And then I hate when the black guy is walking down the street with the white girl."
Sure that's expressing an opinion but how would you feel if a DJ said hey "I'm a racist and proud of it. The KKK should kick them all out of this country" Do you think that opinion would stand and would you tolerate it???
Answer that Lex, mallymal, stone, echillri, METALFACE!!!
Posted by: Borg at March 24, 2004 07:54 PM
Actually, this article is much softer than her actually quotes. I saw the story and they played her actual segment on Channel 9 News here in New York area. She said openly, I have a confession. She said "I hate White People" and then she went on to say, 'I hate when I see Black men with White Women…I hate them too' I'm paraphrasing in the last part - but she did use those words. Now, I don't want to be a hypocrite - I share her concerns somewhat, I don't hate all White people - but I am resentful & distrusting of Caucasians as a race based on history. I'm a Black male & I don't and will not date women outside the African Diaspora. As a Black Male I respect our ancestory, our experience here in America and our current struggle to take what assets I have & gained from my community -- and abandon them for another. But when you're in the media outlet - you have to be careful of your views and wording as such. If Gumba Johnny had said "I hate Black people….and when I see Black men with White women I just hate that ….I hate them,", we would be calling for his firing. Now would we get it or not is another matter. But we have to careful of double-standards in our plight against racism.
