Don Imus has spoken and, as a result, has become the latest victim of racial/ethnic insensitivity foot-in-mouth disease.

With MSNBC and CBS killing his "Imus in the Morning" program, the final shoe has dropped on his popular radio program carried by WFAN.

Even Imus seemed to sense the end was near when he said Thursday he doubted CBS had the moral courage to keep him on the air.

Although NBC said it polled its employees before making its decision, its denial that money was part of the equation rings a bit hollow, given all the high-priced advertisers that were pulling out in droves from sponsorship of the Imus show.

Yes, Imus certainly brought this misadventure upon himself by referring to the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos."

Those comments added fuel to a long tradition of racial and ethnic bashing seen and heard on his show.

Imus has previously referred to Arabs as ragheads, and has taken aim at African-Americans Gwen Ifill, a PBS news anchor, as a "cleaning lady," and New York Times sports columnist Bill Rhoden as a diversity hire.

"What he has said has deeply hurt too many people black and white, male and female," Bryan Monroe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, was quoted as saying on Yahoo News. "His so-called apology comes two days after the fact and it is too little, too late."

Imus joins the growing list of media celebrities who have said something stupid: Michael Richards of "Seinfeld" fame used the N-word to go after hecklers. Former House Speaker Newt Gringrich, to make a political point, recently said immigrants should speak English "not the language of living in a ghetto." NBA player Tim Hardaway, commenting on the state of sports, said, "I hate gay people." Mel Gibson spewed an anti-Jewish tirade in front of a police officer when pulled over for drunken driving.

Imus is just the latest celebrity to reach for the "Repair Your Image for Dummies" handbook.

Step 1: Own up to your mistake, go talk to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton or the official representative of the offended party.

Step 2: Expect your employer to give you the traditional suspended for two-weeks treatment in the hopes things will calm down.

Step 3: Expect to be fired, but rehired within a year after all the publicity has died down, as one media watcher said this week.

Step 4: Find yourself a good rehabilitation center, as Jay Leno joked this week.

Looks like Imus is hovering between steps two and three.

"What I did was make a stupid, idiotic mistake in a comedy context," Imus said on his show this week. "Here's what I've learned: that you can't make fun of everybody because some people don't deserve it. And because the climate of this program has been what it's been for 30 years doesn't mean that it has to be that way for the next five years or whatever because that has to change and I understand that."

Imus kept saying he was really a nice person and really didn't mean to say anything disrespectful to the Rutgers team.

Sharpton wasn't having any of it and called for Imus to be fired immediately.

"I accept his apology, just as I want his bosses to accept his resignation," Sharpton said.

Already the discussion has shifted to how much must a person apologize before they are forgiven? Is the firing of Imus a justified reaction or just political correctness run amok?

But the bigger question should be why is it that we only have a national discussion on racial and ethnicity issues when a celebrity causes a scandal?

Otherwise, issues of inclusiveness, diversity and equality are relegated to college campus forums or the edgy humor of cable comedy shows.

Why is it OK on those television shows for a group of white men to make fun of hillbilly culture, or a Latino, black or Asian comedian to make fun of their own and other cultures, but it's not OK for white comedians to make fun of other cultures?

Why is it that offending celebrities must first make their apologies to people who are deemed the "official spokesperson" for those racial or ethnic groups?

Why are these discussions carried out in the rabid free-for-all that is talk television and talk radio, not in the more dignified and widely aired media venues where the participants aren't yelling at each other, but examining the issue in a respectful, sensitive but meaningful manner?

We seem to be a reactive society when it comes to issues of race, ethnicity and cultures. We can't wait to jump on people like Don Imus when they create such a public furor.

However, the public, the media and celebrities would be better served if we took a more proactive look at this issue.

Frank Moraga is The Star's director of diversity and general manager of Mi Estrella, The Star's bilingual weekly newspaper. He is also a member of the Destino Vision Committee. He can be reached at fmoraga@venturacountystar.com.