Right about now, BET execs are wishing Don Imus never happened.
Since Imus, BET has increasingly been under scrutiny for its programming and is finding all sorts of resistance from black folks it never anticipated.
The latest BET backlash involves this. BET is launching a new series, originally entitled, "Hot Ghetto Mess," but it's name has been changed to We Got To Do Better due to pressure from advertisers and others. The point of the program is to clown real-life, ghetto-ass people and its a spinoff of this website. It's a comedy show, but now too many people are laughing about it these days.
Don't really get the name change, but what I do find interesting is this climate in which black people are jumping all over themselves to prove to white America that yes, we can hold one another accountable.
Seems like some bullshit to me. Of course, we DO have to be accountable. Black people have, for far too long, blamed The Man for its problems when we seem to be our own worst since we attained our Civil Rights.
But it's intriguing how all of a sudden white America has been able to absolve their role in racism because of two, handy-made excuses -- hip-hop and BET.
Of course, I say this having been on a BET boycott of sorts for the better part of two or three years now. Some of it has to do with being older, but the minute BET completely cut its news programming in lieu of coonin'-ass programming, they lost me as a customer. I'm more into TV One, which has more balanced programming. But I feel just as strongly about programs like Hot Ghetto Mess or whatever it's called as I do Flava of Love, Miss New York, and that Charm School bullshit. To be honest, if VH-1 should be in the fire with BET because Flava of Love is the most destructive image of black folks I can remember in years.
But seriously, as much as BET needs to be cleaned up, should that really be the focus of our energy? I mean, if we want to protest something, shouldn't we be protesting these raggedy-ass schools in our neighborhood? Shouldn't we be protesting the fact that, as Chris Rock says, there are brand-new metal detectors and old-ass books? Shouldn't we be registering to vote instead of worrying about Reginald Hudlin is doing?
Bottom line is that this is America. And in this country, whites, blacks, Mexicans, Jews, Gentiles, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc., have a craving for lowest-common denominator entertainment. We're a violent country that likes to watch violence. If no one is holding John McClaine accountable for the rising murder rate, why are we trying to hold Lil' Wayne accountable?
I've never believed in the link between entertainment and action. And if there is a link, isn't it up to each individual to root it out and figure out what is and isn't good?
I just get the feeling that some people believe that if we "cleaned up" hip hop, BET, and other forms of black entertainment, then African Americans would live joyously happy lives free of racism. That's bullshit.
Now I'm not saying we should let things go rampant in our community unchecked. There are some black folks that have been living on a pass for far too long (R. Kelly, Pacman Jones, Team Vick, Michael Jackson, etc).
All I'm saying is black people have our part in this mess, but we are hardly the people controlling the strings. It's fine to get on BET, but why isn't anyone riding Viacom's ass? They're the ones who own not only BET, but MTV and VH-1. It's fine to try to put a foot in hip-hop's ass, but how come there is barely any mention of the fact that all of hip-hop is controlled by whites -- from the distribution to the hip-hop magazines?
As my man Talib says, how come nobody wants to talk about that white-skin privilege do'?
Look, black folks, take care of your own household, your own little community, raise your standards for education and behavior (in YOUR HOME) and everything will be fine. The change that most needs to occur is the one nobody can put their hands on and do so easily. It's easy to get a few records off the shelves, or a few shows cancelled (or have their names changed), but it ain't that easy trying to be a better parent and getting more black men out of prison and into college.
BET and hip hop are just the diversionary tactic of the moment.
1 comment:
The main problem is easy: black folks have no real entertainment power — executives in the corner office or the boardroom who can help eliminate and regulate this type of bullshit.
I too refuse to watch any of the demeaning shit that passes for "Black Entertainment" these days, from that talk show bullshit that rots your brain to the VH-1 crap like Flavor of Coon. Know why you don't see any shows like this about Asians or Latinos or Eastern Europeans or Jews? Because they would be slicing and dicing those responsible in the boardroom with the efficiency of a sickle.
We have some individual power in places, but not collective power. To put it bluntly, we're like the embarrassment of the nation. They tolerate us when they need us for a few votes or to serve in the military meat grinder, but we're not expected to collectively amount to much. What's worse is not only have some of us internalized all of this, but we're so fucked up we can't even work together. I pray for the strength to not walk up and slap the shit out of some young brotha with his shots/jeans belted UNDER his ass. Seriously. I have to resist the urge to slap some sense into him.
As far as Hot Ghetto Mess is concerned (and BET and unfunny Charlie Murphy, who was booed OFFSTAGE at a concert in St. Louis last year), we no longer need worry about minstrels. We do it ourselves. It's a damn shame when our children think it's cooler to not succeed, not speak correctly, not dress like you have some sense and not educate yourself than to do all of those things.
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