“The reason I’m HIV negative is because I don’t mess with Haitian girls,” said Diaz on Dec. 17.
The station was immediately flooded with complaints from the Haitian community and Diaz, 34, was suspended indefinitely.
While the NY Daily News reports that Diaz apologized, saying, “I made a stupid, tasteless joke that was a one-liner that was taken totally the wrong way,” activists are calling for his immediate dismissal.
Supporters say Diaz was simply joking and following the outrageous humor commonly used on “The Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg Show” the Bronx, N.Y., native co-hosts with Peter Rosenberg; however, leaders in the Haitian community aren’t laughing, saying such harmful stereotypes will not be tolerated.
Time and again, objectors line up to slam “shock jocks” who step out of line and offend people in the minority community. For example, when Don Imus called the women of the Rutgers basketball team a bunch of “nappy-headed hos” on his radio show, black activists sprang up from the neighborhood like superheroes and after a major outcry, he was fired.
Is this situation any different? Should activists put the heat of Sipha? Should all African people be offended? What do you think? –grace octavia
Essence best-selling author Grace Octavia has penned four romance novels, including Playing Hard to Get. For more information, visit www.graceoctavia.com.
