You know the damage one ignorant Negro can do? We were in France in the first war; we’d won decorations. But the white boys had told all them French gals that we had tails. Then they found this ignorant colored soldier, paid him to tie a tail to his ass and run around half-naked, making monkey sounds. Put him on the big round table in the Cafe Napoleon, put a reed in his hand, crown on his head, blanket on his shoulders, and made him eat *bananas* in front of all them Frenchies. Oh, how the white boys danced that night… passed out leaflets with that boy’s picture on it. Called him Moonshine, King of the Monkeys. And when we slit his throat, you know that fool asked us what he had done wrong?
So last night Twitter was inundated with a bunch of tweets about the BET Awards. As usual, I didn’t watch. Listen, I’m about to sound real judgmental right now, but honestly, I don’t care. I didn’t create this site to make friends or hold my tongue. The webhosting costs are less than permanent Anger Management classes. In order to keep me from cussing people that do idiotic things out every day, I get to write them down for the whole world to see. So if the shoe fits…wear that muthafucka proudly…
Here’s what I don’t get and want to start a serious discussion on. So many of you all hate coonery. You want the Soulja Boys of the world to disappear. You hate the negative stereotypes that are associated with you day in and day out. This is obvious by the number of you that were upset by Mudflap and Skid in the new Transformers 2 movie. We get mad at white people like Dog the Bounty Hunter or Don Imus or the random white people that do insanely offensive shit. But then your ass turns around and supports the same coonery you denounce by watching the BET Music Awards. Honestly, what the FUCK is that about? If you hate how you have to work twice as hard as a professional African American and hate having to prove to your white coworkers that you’re not one of those dumb, borderline, fresh off the plantation sounding negros…then why do you support the shit that fuels the stereotype? It makes no sense to me.
The harsh reality is, and its risky for me to do this when I’m in the middle of trying to be nominated for a Black Weblog Award (but fuck it), Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, T-Pain and his big ass chain, Plies’s retarded 3rd grader sounding ass and all the other artist out there aren’t the coons….YOU ARE. Yeah they’re the ones in front of the cameras jiving and jigging and making some Jewish guy who doesn’t give 2 shits about them a ton of money but you’re the one who’s giving your money and, more importantly, time to support them. They are just the waste products of your diet of coonery. Of course I know you don’t agree with me. You think I’m tripping. Well, you’re no different than the house slaves that thought they were different than the field negros outside. You sit on your couch looking at the ignorant niggas shucking and jiving…little do you know you’re doing exactly what your master wants you to do. You’re the one that’s in the worse position. Seriously, T-Pain, Soulja Boy…all of them know they are being pimped by the man. It’s you that thinks you’re different and are special somehow. You think that the cops or business owners or your boss don’t see those other ignorant fools and associate them with you. At least you think that until you get pulled over for “Driving While Black” or you get skipped over for that promotion or your white co-workers designate you as the “Go-to-Person” for all things rap music or criminal related. Yup, you perpetuate the stereotypes and therefore its YOU that are the biggest part of this problem. As long as you support this shit, you better believe that you’ll be seeing more stereotypes like Skids and Mudflap in movies. Sad thing is, just like the Transformers twins, they won’t really be stereotypes. Because you’ve now supported them into existence. BET at the end of the day is a company that is about making money. If coonery didn’t sell, they wouldn’t do it. But they do. That’s why even though a good deal of you whill call it coonery and horrible, you all will be watching Keyshia Cole’s mother Frankie’s show and Tiny & Toya’s show and the complete ghetto fuckery that will go on there. And the cycle continues. Because of YOU. It’s not BET’s fault they are providing the poison that you readily and eagerly inject into your body. You have the power to say “Not this time” but just like a strung out crackhead, you’ll be back for more.
Now I’m not saying everything has to be prim and proper with what we do. Not at all. But its getting to the point were the balance has been tipped and all we get now is the shit that seems like it’s out of a KKK “Niggers for Dummies” book. Shit like this kills me. The same people bitching about how Black History month is too short and how they can’t get any respect are the same ones that sit down in front of the TV to watch the coonery that BET puts out. Maybe you just don’t know what you are doing. By watching it, you are giving it support, by giving it support you are telling the BET executives that you like it. Since you like it, they’ll do the same thing year after year after year because they know your dumb ass is going to keep watching it. Yes, you’re a dumb ass if you watch this shit. I know you don’t want to hear it and I know you’ll comment with some really dumb ass excuse as to why you do it. It’s okay, but the truth is…you’re the reason why this shit exists. And don’t think this ends with just BET. If you claim “Only I normally don’t watch BET” but then you catch every fucked up show VH1 puts out, all you’ve done is just changed plantations.
Oh and for you “I only watched cause Michael Jackson died and I wanted to see the BET tribute.” Okay, so you believe Michael Jackson is the King of Pop (really there’s no disputing it) and he had unmatched talent. Did you really think that the station that has done everything possible inthe last 10 years to ruin the image of black people, black music and doesn’t actively promote real talent is going to give a proper tribute to this man? If you really believe that then you not only are part of the coonery problem but you are also delusional. This isn’t Donnie Simpson’s BET. This is the BET that Bob Johnson sold to Viacom, forever making him one of the biggest sellouts in modern Black History. This BET would struggle to put together an MJ tribute with 6 months of planning and for this show they only had 3 days. Of course they said they were redoing the whole show to tribute MJ…but you really fell for that bullshit? A simple check would have told you that artist with actual talent weren’t even in town for the BET Awards. And you thought you would see a proper MJ tribute? Come on, you were lying to yourself and you know it. Expecting BET to put together a good tribute with the talent they support is like asking for the Twin Towers to be rebuilt with LEGOS. Debra Lee’s eyes lit up when she realized she could convince a bunch of sheep to turn into her shitty ass awards show allowing her to promote her equally coonified fall lineup. Sad thing is, many of you will turn in to watch that coontastic shit as well.
June 29th, 2009 at 10:13 am
This is a well put together article and I enjoyed reading it. First off, I am guilty of watching and commenting on the Train Wreck that was the BET awards over Twitter and FB like many others. I came in with low expectations and I was not disappointed. They didnt even give MJ 15 minutes in a 3+ hour show. Lord knows they had the time. And I agree more or less with every point you made in this article, especially the one about them brainwashing us into watching the fall lineup. The key to stopping the coonery is to not support thier fall lineup at all.
As a fan of Star Wars and Transformers, I’d like to hear/read your thoughts about Transformers 2 and mudflap and skidz. Also how they compare to Jar Jar from Star Wars. There has been a lot of commentary about the movie, most of which I don’t really agree with except for the mudflap and skidz debate. But even then, As far as the twins are concerned, I feel that Jar Jar did more harm then the robots did…what are your thoughts?
June 29th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I’m posting a Transformers 2 review but this is basically what I said. While initially upset, I realize that if Skids and Mudflap were aliens that tried to mimic human behavior and they took their cues from urban Rap Radio stations…that’s how they would sound. As a matter of fact, they were actual tame compared to what it could have been. CNN covered the BET Awards red carpet live…trust me…that was way more embarrassing and damaging than the twins in Transformers
June 29th, 2009 at 10:29 am
what the hell? CNN covered that shit?
June 29th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I never watched BET. Well, that’s not true. I’d tune in to see the videos MTV wouldn’t show, but I haven’t watched it (or MTV) for many, many years now.
I watched the awards last night to see what they’d do to honor Michael Jackson. The people that did so from the heart, did a great job. The rest was a hot ass mess. But you know what? I also watched MTV for the first time in years on Friday simply because they had an all day video tribute to Michael. And yes, I had to sit through commercials for ridiculous shows like The Real World: Cancun and Tiny ad Toya in order to see these tributes, but to me it was worth it because I was so starved to see something that wasn’t talking about the Elephant Man and Bubbles the Chimp.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Oh, and no system is perfect and we’re not gonna change BET’s programming or Souljaboy’s behavior/lyrics because you hit the nail on the head – somebody is making a lot of money because people lap that shit up. I think that so many people who don’t normally watch BET or MTV found themselves tuning in this weekend to see/hear positive Michael tributes says more about OTHER media.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:06 am
AND, I used that argument (Mudflaps and Skids) in defense of Jazz (I think that was his name) in the first movie. They said early on that they learned to speak by scanning the world wide web. I forgave that. I also forgave that he was the only one to die in the first movie.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Nina, about the Transformers thing, Yeah, I did the same thing. It makes sense when you think about it. It’s sad, but makes sense.
As for the BET/MJ Tribute, I just knew they were going to fuck it up and I might have burst a blood vessel in my brain if I watched it. There’s enough Youtube videos of MJ out there that I remember him that way and not the way BET did. It was kinda disgusting reading on Twitter how BET was using MJ’s death (along with a certain Jackson family member) to promote their own agenda instead of MJ. Nope, I don’t have time for that.
June 29th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
This was a good post. Idk this would lose you followers/readers. It’s the same thing you have been saying. People do what they want, is what it boils down to. I watched last night, unapologetically, because I wanted to see it. I watch the awards every year, and leave the rest, because I want to do so. But your opinion is certainly respectable, and true in most cases. In any case, I watched the awards and still enjoyed this post… Go figure. Good job!
June 29th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
@Kriss I agree with your argument about Mudflap and Skidz…I used it in a discussion this past weekend with some sociology folks…they were less agreeable with it. Either way I agree, the twins are just mimicking what they see from the human race.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
G, because we don’t want to admit its true. The more I think about it, Michael Bay did us a favor. If aliens did come down here and had nothing but what they saw on TV or radio to learn our behavior…we’d be fucked. Sad but true.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Kriss,
You knocked it out of the park on so many levels. How many of you complain about Tyler Perry’s coonery, but didn’t go see “Talk To Me” or “The Great Debaters?”
June 29th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Real talk…I ordinarily never watch BET. And when I say never I mean NEVER. I watched a bit last night because of the supposed MJ tribute. That is what really pissed me off. They promoted that shit of a show as an MJ tribute show, yet there were few positive moments. I am mad that I wasted even a bit of time watching that mess.
What gets me even more is, as a black person, when I say I don’t like Lil Wayne, Plies, Drake or anyone else that I think is “cooning” I get accused of being stuck-up or “hating”. Like Common said, “If I don’t like it, I don’t like it…it don’t mean that I’m hating.” And Lil Wayne, and other people like him, is a sad excuse for music. So, now that I’m sufficiently mad at BET for lying about the MJ tribute to get people like myself who liked MJ and loved his music to tune in, I’m actually starting an online boycott of this station. I’m sick of ignorant mess being heralded as the standard for our race. Your article is right on time Kriss.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I NEVER watch BET, infact until this week I didn’t even know I had it in my cable package! I rarely would ever have time to watch MUSIC channels past the 90’s. I wanted to say…people were moaning in my house last night…”this is a JOKE”
I had to watch, because of “Michael”, since Thursday when Twitter tweeted he was taken to the hospital, I thought “No”, then I got the call within the hour that he was “gone”…I never thought I would be SOOOO SAD over a celebrity passing away! As soon as I got the call I left where I was at and got into the car, turned on the radio, which I never DO & there it was it was true! He was Dead! They were playing his songs one after another. I was in shock, every where I went that day people were talking about it. I told some different people throughout out the day who had no access to media and THEY were all shocked…”NO” was the basic response! When I got home to my family I just cried getting out of the car, CRAZY huh! Who would have thunk it…so many emotions, like the president died! But, guess what…Michael was the FIRST “45″ I ever bought as a LITTLE kid and I played that 45 over and over and over until my little blue suitcase-like record player was worn out of “BEN” that song is in my mind forever! You realize that growing up Michael Jackson and the whole family has grown up with you! Even though he got a little crazy later in life we always wanted to remember that beautiful little boy that EVERYONE fell in-love with…Our grandmother saw the Jackson 5 sing at a grocery store in Indiana before ANYONE knew who they ever were! Point I want to really make is BET and every station, media source will be tributing MJ this week. Call it Marketing, call it “sell out” call it anything YOU want, but the world did stop for a moment this week! MJ was BIGGER than any other SINGER of all time, Bigger than Elvis ALL OVER THE WORLD, even in 3rd world countries…NOBODY has ever seen this before! I think in the recent MJ years we HAVE ALL FORGOTTEN his REAL fame in the world, because it was easy to make the cracks about his skin, nose, boys etc… But i really want and do remember the Michael I fell in love with laying next to my record player in the early 70’s! BET isn’t always a class act, it was amateur night at best, but if THEY did NOT throw this show together in 3 days, they would have had to wait a whole YEAR for the next award show, so of COURSE they were going to take advantage of last night, due to the fact they had a MARKET watching who NEVER watched the awards show before. They could have done parts of it with a BIT more taste though! I don’t think Jaime Foxx should have been dressing up like him and doing the moonwalk, that was taking attention for him self! Most of the singers who attempted MJ songs could NOT hit the notes….BUT, I will have to say “Ne-Yo” brought it home with his first song “Lady” and he did a great job in the end with JF and actually JF wasn’t 1/2 bad on that song either!
We ALLl watched, so I am sure BET got what they wanted…I really did NOT expect Janet to come out, that blew me away! Mr. Jackson however in the audience was completely IN-APPROPRIATE when your sons body is still in the Morgue, You NEVER Laugh and enjoy yourself socially, WRONG on every level!! There is time for that LATER, cause you know there will be a HUGE tribute show or several coming up soon, and with TASTE! He is already cashing in on his son’s DEATH, he proved it yesterday in an interview! BUT, really, is that a surprise, cause WE all know everything those kids said HE did, HE DID, hence the reason Michael got screwed-up later in life trying to live out his childhood! It was all SO SAD! Just think if his father never did what he did he would have still been that Mj we all fell in love with on that 1970’s stage!
Peace forever Michael! You will live on throughout the world because of your MUSIC…forever YOUNG-gone at 50!
June 30th, 2009 at 9:35 am
I think we all can agree (not sure if Kriss is on board with this one) that a lot of us usually don’t support BET’s programming because it kills brain cells. But every once in a while even a station like BET is (supposed) to step up to the plate and deliver especially when someone of MJ’s status passes away. I don’t think that it is supporting coonery, if you decide to break your rule one time to celebrate someone’s life.
Humans usually have emotions and those emotions will have you do things you said that you wouldn’t so sometimes. The fact that so many people who usually wouldn’t have watched the awards show tuned it only support the fact that it really hit people and people wanted to celebrate his life. I still could care less about BET but I do appreciate ‘greatness’ when I see it.
BET doing a piss poor job is a different story in its own…I think a lot of us would agree that BET Awards would have sucked w/ or w/o the MJ aspect, but we tuned in for the MJ aspect so as long as ppl didn’t go in expecting a GREAT award show…it was safe. Lil Wayne was not going to cut his hair, pull up his pants, sober up and not use 50 million expletives but I expected that and was okay w/ putting up with it for one day to celebrate life.
Not watching the awards show because you could forecast a major failure is just dumb. What if they had put on a great tribute, then that attitude would have caused you to miss it. Sometimes, ppl need to go in expecting to be surprised rather than not try at all. Thats like saying I will never try a new activity/hobby/food/experience just because I know its going to suck.
In this case, you were right ahead of time but next time that attitude could lead to missing out on good experiences.
Clearly the last part of this wasn’t directed to just Kriss…there were plenty others who had the same feelings regarding the awards show/supposed tribute.
Dylan
June 30th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Thank you! I was never so embarrassed in my life! I am sick and tired of having to work twice as hard to erase the stereotypes that those fools purport!
June 30th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Here’s the thing though Dylan….when’s the last time BET’s done anything right? I understand that some people wanted to see a MJ tribute, but again the question is, why would you think that a company that has done everything in its power to ruin black music over the last 15 years would be able to put together a decent tribute for a musician like MJ?
The truth is, it’s an excuse. It was an excuse to watch that bullshit because I don’t think anyone in their right mind could possibly think that Debra Lee and the rest of her coonbots could have done it right.
And let’s say I did miss a great tribute. You know the wonderful thing about the world today? We have the Internet. I could have caught it on Youtube and avoided giving any support to Buffoonery Entertainment Television
June 30th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Honestly, Kriss I tuned in feeling that BET could not have jacked it up that badly. I thought they would, at the very least, do him justice. Recognizing who he was to music, I really felt that they would have fucking tried to do something decent. Not even extraordinary, just decent. Nope…not a bit. BET is like your sorry cousin on crack that enters rehab for the 19th time and says it’s the last time…you want to believe in them, but you know better. I should have known better.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
It’s heartening to know that I’m not the only one disgusted by what went down this past weekend. BET is an embarassment. And no, I didn’t watch beyond that stupid-assed “pre-show” award, where the rappers were humpin the stage, and singin off-key. But I knew just from that short look that this was a train wreck in the making.. but I’m sorry to see that it was much worse than that.
As I watched the young ladies cheering on these assholes while they talked about the size of their manhood, and read the reviews of this debacle the following morning, I came to realize that our situation as a people is about as hopeless as it could possibly be. Don’t believe me? How about this: We’ve got three generations on welfare, with teenagers raising children, and it seems like the majority of them don’t have any values to pass on, and mostly without these so-called “men”. Where we used to fear the Klan, now we fear our own teenage boys, who’ll kill their own people for whatever little they can get. Our culture is so excited over the next great “rap” artist, but not about education. We’re excited about “bling”, but not about doing what’s right by our neighbors. Parents can’t dicipline, because it’s become “okay” to beat up your parents! I used to worry about how these clowns reflected on me as a person. Now, after seeing this, I’m just sad. And tired. Yes, we have a lot to deal with in this country, in terms of bigotry, and discrimination, but the majority of our problems are self-inflicted; we haven’t come together as a people. Rap music is the worst thing that’s happened to us since slavery. ANY rapper that has the audacity to compare his/herself with the likes of Ella or Marvin should be struck by lightening. Hell, they couldn’t carry their SHOES, let alone rise to the level of excellence that the true “Old School” took us to, in the day. How did we, of all peoples, go from lush, soulful ballads and choreography, to this? Dudes runnin around on the stage, pants hangin off their asses, calling our daughters sluts and whores?? Oh, and by the way, the “saggin” thing comes from prison days. In the old days, a prisoner who was disliked or desired by other inmates was give the largest trousers possible, with no belt. This way, A: He couldn’t run, and B: The pants could be pulled off without effort, and also served as a securing device for the legs, by standing on the crotch.
So, where did our young men pick up on THAT shit???
Man, I apologise for rambling. I feel sorry for all of us…..
July 1st, 2009 at 2:04 am
Let’s take “saggin” back to its original origin (redundant I know, but work with me). It was borne out of slavery. Some masters decided to give our Black men ropes to tie their pants instead of belts. They did this because it served two purposes: one, it was an insult to Black men because the notion was that only true, civilized men (i.e. White men) were given the privilege of wearing belts. And two, belts could not be secured well, thus it served as a slowing mechanism for those who did try to run. There was an added bonus that if any slave man was caught, they could just hang him with his own make-shift belt.
And, this is the shit our young kids are rocking? Sad! Carter G. Woodson said it best when he stated that if you control someone’s mind, you no longer need to create a cage for them. They will do it for themselves. I’m sad to say this seems to be most true for the state of our race now.
July 1st, 2009 at 10:44 am
I had to voice my opinion on this year’s BET Awards. I never watch BET unless one of my favorite actors/singers appear on 106 & Park. Other than that, no because I feel the channel is full of boring and dumb shows.
It was so foul of BET of using Michael’s name to get viewers to watch. Even CNN and other media outlets who normally don’t cover BET was reporting on a tribute. If an award show is going to do a proper tribute to someone, it should always be in one segment, not scattered throughout the show. That was a sign telling me that the whole show is going to be a mess. If anything, it would have been better to do a separate show of tributes because Michael was a larger than life musical force and it would take about 3 hours to do a great tribute to him. I did like Ne-Yo’s performance though. The majority of the show was a mess and had me shaking my head in shame. Here’s why…
-Ving Rhames: Why would such a respected actor be acting a fool on stage? If he did that sober, then wow. Just wow. Shame on him.
-Lil Wayne & company: Hearing those censors every 2 seconds was distracting and annoying. It would have been better to perform the radio edit. Also, what was up w/ those girls dancing on stage w/ lyrics like that? Drake has no stage presence and should work on that soon.
-Soulja Boy: Who gave him a record contract? That’s all I have to say.
-Ciara: She can not sing. If anything, it would have been better for her to do a dance tribute. My ears were bleeding.
-Annoucing winners: It so tacky of them not to read the nominees. Who does that? Were they lazy or what? Note to BET: always read the nominees before annoucing the winner(s).
-Joe Jackson: This man is disgusting and should never be at any event relating to Michael. It was so foul and selfish of him to promote a record label at a time when he should be grieving the death of his son. No wonder why Michael left him with nothing in his will. I applaud Janet for her strength to go on stage when she didn’t have to.
The BET Awards gets worse every year. I keep telling myself that it will get better. Nope, it hasn’t. Hopefully, the VMAs will do a much better tribute to Michael.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:59 pm
1. all people are hot messes, whether they realize it or not.
2. what is pleasurable is profitable, and what is profitable will proliferate.
3. there is a greater chance of even one rich and powerful person freely distributing the total of their wealth to the homeless population without caveat or resentment, than there is a chance that any given group of human beings will always act in a way that is not senseless, reprehensible, hypocritical, or cruel.
4. rich, educated, and cultured white people don’t care what poor, uneducated, and uncultured white people do. Should they?
5. Who among us – who aren’t damn tired and damn sad and damn frustrated over the misfortunate antics of same-colored strangers – is going to go out and squander their lives trying in futility to be the “catchers in the hood”?
6. What is so damn important about what white people think? As if they are the only ones who can give a black person any validation of their worthiness as a human being? Coon, not-coon, house-slave, field-slave. These are all only relevant in the context of white-master as both father (source of approval) and tyrant (source of oppression). The sooner black people care more about what each thinks of him/herself the better off we’ll all be.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
foshothoyo–I agree with most of what you said, but point 6 is particularly on point (pun intended). And it’s because I care what other Black folks, not White folks, not Mexican people, but other Black folks think when they see mess like that reflected toward them. As someone who wants to see Black people reflected in a more positive way, that shit disgusted me. It’s not about White people. It’s about Black people who have the “Miseducation of the Negro” mentality. White people no longer have to try to convince us that we’re inferior because given this show of debauchery, it’s clear that we’re capable of perpetuating that theory all by ourselves.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
“white people no longer have to try to convince us that we’re inferior because given this show of debauchery, it’s clear that we’re capable of perpetuating that theory all by ourselves”
whoa. maybe i didn’t communicate my point effectively.
what i was trying to do was question the idea that what one person does can speak to the nature of everyone else with the same skin color. This idea comes from the racism that was nurtured under slavery, that “all blacks are alike”, when clearly this is absurd on its face. The problem with this whole “coonery” thing is that the very idea is based on taking the absurd idea of “race” as a real and valid human grouping. By saying that “we are capable of convincing ourselves that we are inferior to whites”, one must already believe in the validity of racial groupings, and hold that there is some gradient of superiority and inferiority across those groups – a system of thought that was held by the very people who you claim black people are inferior to. This is a paradox.
So, for me, I see it this way:
lil’ wayne and BET are disgusting, exploitative, and disgraceful.
I have nothing to do with lil’ wayne, or BET, even though I am black.
What anybody else of my same skin color does says nothing about who I, or any other black person is.
instead of this:
lil’ wayne and BET are disgusting, exploitative, and disgraceful.
Because they are black, they represent me and all black people.
Their actions are convincing evidence that the black race is inferior to whites.
The second set of statements is based in “miseducation” itself. Take my previous point #4: when some ignorant white people go and do something disgusting, exploitative, and disgraceful, it doesn’t make people think “oh, all white people are stupid and inferior to other races.” Now, does it? Why shouldn’t it be the same for black people?
After all, nobody is making the argument that all people from the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans are ignorant rappers. (where lil wayne is from) Or that Hollygrove people are obviously inferior to people from the 7th ward.
My point was that black people shouldn’t see other black people as reflections of themselves; which is a healthier, non-white-gaze-centered perspective that is truly outside of the non-scientific, oppressive, and absurd ideas about race, racial homogeneity, and racial superiority.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:29 pm
“The second set of statements is based in “miseducation” itself. Take my previous point #4: when some ignorant white people go and do something disgusting, exploitative, and disgraceful, it doesn’t make people think “oh, all white people are stupid and inferior to other races.” Now, does it? Why shouldn’t it be the same for black people?”
As one of the few (and the proud) white folks who both understands this site and comments, I will say that I wish more white people were smart enough to pick apart what is on BET and what happens in SE DC from the rest of black people, yet the stereotypes persist. Unfortunately, in all-white company, I have heard more than a few comments that perhaps are not “racist” but are certainly playing off of the “ghetto” stereotypes. I would go so far as to say they are racist, but I’d like to believe that they are reflecting the fact that all they know about black people is what is portrayed on the media available to them that is prevalent. The sad fact is that white people still dominate the corporate world, like it or not. Some even hold the key to advancement in companies and when these people think that the common black person is what is portrayed by the rap/BET community, THAT is a problem. I was fortunate enough to grow up outside of DC in PG County and I know better, but I’d say 80% of white America either doesn’t know or doesn’t care. That is the perception problem. I do my best to describe my growing-up experience, but it only goes so far because when they turn on MTV or any number of the major networks, they see more stereotypes that reinforce what they think they know about black people. In an ideal world, white people would know better, but this is not an ideal world, and they don’t…
August 10th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Just want to clarify, albeit very late, that Bob Johnson was a sellout long before he actually sold BET to Viacom, as evidenced by the programming he aired even from the start. All Bob cares about is the loot. (Read “The Billion Dollar BET” by Brett Pulley. Dude even fired his WIFE ’cause he was so greeedy!)
And your commentary here is right on. You’re on that Dr. Claude Anderson tip! This buffoonery smacks of black folks owning slaves all over again and fighting with the south during the civil war to preserve slavery!
August 26th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I know I’m late, but I am ashamed to admit I actually watched that garbage. I did it so I could pass on information to my best friend who was stuck in Maine and couldn’t watch it. Otherwise, I would’ve had a few beers and watched a movie on my computer.
I haven’t watched BET since that piece of crap, and I won’t be watching it again.
Ever.
September 16th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
BET is to black people what JACKASS is to white people…
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:51 am
I watched the BET Awards for the first time in 2007, to see the tribute to Diana Ross. I was impressed by the talent of performers I had not seen before as well as the repest shown for older artiest like Miss Ross, Miss Labelle, Ms. Knight, etc. The only performer that night that showed his ass was 50 cent and the crowd showed their disapproval.
I turned the show on again in 2008 and 2009 and each time I had to turn it off after fifteen minutes both times. It was like the grown folks said let the children do it.