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As an African American observing our current climate, destructive images, language and sounds have excacerbated a lifecycle of hatred, rudeness, and social discourse in all of our daily lives. This meticulous "infection" (2) has evolved so subtle within the past the twenty years, one has to wonder, how far has this country gone down the slippery slope.

There is no doubt, that American society as a whole, according to the literature (3); that there has been a deep ambivalence towards censorship. Censorship is the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. As the society weighs in on the relevancy of censorhip, how much further as a society will we allow this moral decline? Which brings us to the discussion of Don Imus and how this may implicate the rap community, Black radio and the music industry with no regard to the 1996 Communications Decency Act?

Since 1971, Don Imus has been saying some outrageous things on the air. His commentary has comprised themes of racism, homophobia, drugs and alcohol, just to name a few. It is no secret that Don Imus has enjoyed a huge following in the U.S. But how does his past and future acceptance translate for American society as a whole? In addition, what increases the complexity of the Imus story, are the number of government officials who have made numerous appearances on his talk show sans trepidation (regardless of initial motivations of appearing). Moreover, how does the 1996 Communications Decency Act enforced by the Federal authorities interplay with this particular event. In essence, has CBS and MSNBC been playing by the rules since 1996? History seems to suggest that these national broadcasters may be guilty.

The Imus Parallel to the Rap Community

Cornel West, Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University, has the talent to tie modern ideas to historical concepts. As a result, many young people (including African Americans) look to Dr. West as an authority on racism in America. In particular, how capitalism and the framework of Marxism may interplay in the complexity of not just racism in America; but the parallel to the rap community (4-6).

It is no secret, that Dr. West has been embraced by the hip hop community, due to his acknowledgment that the culture (at present) is dominant and also reocognizes the importance of "truth telling." To discount that fact, will add to the

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