…that there is such a thing as context.

I’m a little late getting in on the whole Don Imus imbroglio regarding the Rutgers women’s basketball team, but, yeah, old-ass white men can’t say that kind of shit, and certainly not about women who aren’t hos.

Snoop Dogg defends rappers’ use of the term “ho” and contrasts it with Imus’ racist, misogynist use (courtesy of Jason Kottke):

It’s a completely different scenario. [Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We’re talking about hos that’s in the ‘hood that ain’t doing shit, that’s trying to get a nigga for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain’t no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them muthafuckas say we in the same league as him.

Or, to put it more simply, it’s OK to use the term “ho” when you are referring to an actual “ho” (and don’t tell me that hos don’t exist, y’all know who you are.) It’s not OK to use the term “ho” to slander an educated and athletic young woman in order to trivialize her accomplishments.