As we revealed in part one, the 2007 Rutgers women’s basketball team was having a Cinderella season when radio host Don Imus callously dragged them into a national firestorm with a racist slur, effectively stealing their moment. But the women of Rutgers didn’t just go away quietly – they fought back, rising above the noise to tell their story. Susie and Jess are joined again by former Rutgers captain Essence Carson and Emmy-winning journalist Jemele Hill to unpack the aftermath of that sordid episode, and discuss the complexities of who gets to respond in anger when they are publicly targeted, and why.

GUESTS:  

• Essence Carson, former WNBA star, Rutgers captain and current creative executive
• Jemele Hill, Emmy award-winning journalist

FOR MORE:

• A First-Class Response to a Second-Class Put-Down (NYT, 2007)
• Imus: Race, Power and the Media (Newsweek, 2007)
• Don Imus, DJ fired for racial slur at Rutgers players, dies at 79 (ESPN, 2019)