Sharpton and Jackson have never been elected or appointed as official repressntatives or defenders or anything else of ore by the Black community which is about as diverse as the White community. They have the power that people choose to give them, and in the Imus case are more sounding boards than anything else. Imus insulted some young students who striuved to excel at college sports for no good reason (unless having a tatoo is any sort of reason). Their hair is not any more noticeable nappy than Imus's hair, perhaps even less so, since it seems to be that they use some form of treatment on their hair, as do most Black women in the US, and they have to Imus' knowledge, done nothing that would remotely suggest that they are ho's or whores or in any way promiscuous.
Imus was clearly wrong to demean them in such a way, as dozens perhaps thousands of rappers have been wrong to demean women and pretty anyone else they refer to.
Imus was under contract to be paid $10 million per year, so it hardly matters to consider that he will suffer any undue burdens because of this. If one is paid $10 million, one receives around $6 million, and the interest on this amount, modestly invested, is enough to support several generations of Imuspawn in luxury even if he does not decide to write and sell books or go on satellite radio.
Jackson and Sharpton have done good and done stupid things in their lives and so what. This wasn't about them.