Imus defends latest racial comment

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Don Imus, responding to criticism about racial remarks on his syndicated morning show Monday, said yesterday day on-air he was trying to "make a sarcastic point" about unfair treatment of blacks in the criminal justice system but had been misunderstood. Imus tried to stifle controversay over a racial remark he made  about suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones.


The point of the sarcastic joke, Imus said Tuesday, was that "they arrest black people in this country for no reason. That’s all. And that’s what people should be outraged about."

On Monday’s show, sportscaster Warner Wolf was talking about how Jones had been suspended for a season and arrested six times.

"What color is he?" asked Imus.

"He’s African-American," said Wolf.

"Well, there you go," said Imus. "Now we know."

One of Tuesday morning’s guests, comedian Dick Gregory said he didn’t think Imus is racist and that he took the Pacman comment to be "about racial profiling."

Imus came back to radio six months ago with a pledge to mend the wounds caused by a racist and sexist comment he made about Rutgers Women’s basketball team.