Posted: 4/9/07 Section: News

Media Credit: The Associated Press Radio personality Don Imus, left, and Rev. Al Sharpton appear face-to-face on Rev. Sharpton's radio show, in New York Monday April 9, 2007. Imus issued another apology for referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" on his morning show last week.

NEW YORK (AP) - Don Imus had a hot seat on the other side of the microphone Monday, appearing on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show and enduring more criticism for his offensive comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Imus issued another apology for referring to members of the team as "nappy-headed hos." Sharpton called the comments "abominable" and "racist" and repeated his demand that Imus be fired.

"Our agenda is to be funny and sometimes we go too far. And this time we went way too far," Imus said on "The Al Sharpton Show."

Earlier Monday, on his own radio show, Imus called himself "a good person" who made a bad mistake.

"Here's what I've learned: that you can't make fun of everybody, because some people don't deserve it," he said on his show, which is nationally syndicated to millions of listeners. "And because the climate on 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."

He pointed to his involvement with the Imus Ranch, a working cattle ranch for children with cancer and blood disorders in New Mexico. Ten percent of the children who come to the ranch are black, he said.

"I'm not a white man who doesn't know any African-Americans," he said.

Imus said he hoped to meet the Rutgers players and their parents and coaches, and that he was grateful for the appearance on Sharpton's nationally syndicated show.

"It's not going to be easy, but I'm not looking for it to be easy," Imus said.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and about 50 people _ carrying signs and shouting, "Imus must go!" _ marched Monday outside Chicago's NBC tower, and an NAACP official called for the broadcaster's ouster.

Jackson said Imus' comments contribute to "a climate of degradation" and stem from a lack of blacks as program hosts.

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