Errol Louis has a piece in today's Daily News worth quoting at length. The subject is, of course, L'Affaire Imus. Here's the link.

In this case, the college women slandered by Imus on national television and radio were the best of the best: high academic achievers at a school with tough standards, and hardworking, competitive athletes. Epiphanny Prince, a star freshman on the squad, is already a New York legend, scoring an unheard-of 113 points in a single high school game.

They did all anybody ever asked of them - they stayed out of trouble, got an education, worked hard and literally played by the rules. They deserved much more than to be dismissed as "nappy-headed ho's" before a national audience.

Imus also hit a raw nerve with his sneering contempt for black achievement, playing out the worst fear of many black professionals: that in the end, everything you ever learned or accomplished might end up counting for nothing, dismissed with a racist epithet by a group of chuckling, middle-aged white guys with power.

Exactly right. Your average racist believes (I suppose, and if there is an average) that blacks are, take your pick, lazy, stupid, ignorant, whatnot.

Except that these young women manifestly, clearly, eye-openingly, were not. Did it help them?

Of course not.

The next time some racist you may encounter - it happens to all Americans at some point, I'm sure - tells you that racism stems from black behavior, refer them to Errol Louis' column. Bookmark it. Here's the link again.

The sickness that is racism doesn't come from the fact that some blacks, no more than whites, are lazy, stupid and ignorant. These traits are well-represented among all ethnicities. It comes from the fact that racists think all blacks are, no matter what their level of achievement is. No matter if they're the best in their field, in fact. That's the essence of racism right there. That's where Imus' comments came from - if you're black, you may very well be a star athlete-cum-valedictorian, but you're still just a 'nappy-headed ho'.

And it's why Don Imus needs to go into permanent retirement, not just on a two-week sabbatical.