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Yes, you're right, AA's do not share the same history many other groups do. There isn't a native culture AA's can point to like Irish with Ireland or Chinese with China, and the inner core of self-identity that brings. The historical narrative of the Black American experience begins with Slavery, and that in itself opens up a can of worms that will take monumetous(sp?) effort to rectify.
African-Americans, for better or worse, have no choice but to begin to write their story and legacy in the here and now, a difficult task indeed. My argument however, is that on some level, the Black community needs to bury the hatchet so to speak. Not to let White America "Off the Hook", but in the sense that every moment spend dwelling on historical injustices is another moment not spent on trying to craft a positive community/cultural legacy for their future children. Do you really want to peer 500 years into the future and still have "Slavery" be the only true historical bond that is shared amongst AAs? I didn't think so. AAs need to start pouring that foundation now, and BET is not the type of foundation you want....
You just said almost everything I try to say. Blacks in America need to write a new legacy for themselves, a better legacy. They have never gotten the chance to define themselves. Now is the time they start, and BET is the worse way to start.
BET is extremely harmful for the black community. I keep seeing people on this thread say that BET is no worse than for blacks than MTV or VH1 is for whites. Simply not true. There are quite a few whites whose opinions of blacks are formed SOLELY from the evening news and what they see on TV. Since BET is supposed to be entertainment for black people, and the vast majority of programming is simple-minded, unintelligent buffoonery, many whites assume that blacks are simple-minded, violent, unintelligent buffoons.
Unfortunately there is a dichotomy within the black community. On the one hand, you have those who realize how much BET reinfornces and even perpetuates very negative stereotypes of black America. On the other side, you have people who are too simple-minded to see past the thin entertainment value of BET and/or those who couldn't care less about what other racial groups conclude about blacks based off of BET.
Am I saying that BET is a fair medium on which to make generalizations about black America? Absolutely not. I am just saying that, even in 2009, there are many people who will make generalizations about all blacks off of video from 106 & Park or from a performance at the BET Awards.
If enough people were outraged with BET's programming, BET WOULD change its lineup. However, there are too many people who speak of the trash on BET who still tune in to watch BET programming. If BET's programming irritates you that much, don't tune in at all. Ever. It really is a shame to see a segment of the black community that refuses to acknowledge that they are an embarrassing spectacle viewed as being violent, lazy, immoral, and stupid. Everyone has the potential to be so much more in life. I wish BET would show programming that would encourage everyone to reach that potential.
BET appears to be targeted for the "bling" crowd, a lower class segment of our society that is among the most uneducated and most ignorant. I prefer PBS.
BET is extremely harmful for the black community. I keep seeing people on this thread say that BET is no worse than for blacks than MTV or VH1 is for whites. Simply not true. There are quite a few whites whose opinions of blacks are formed SOLELY from the evening news and what they see on TV. Since BET is supposed to be entertainment for black people, and the vast majority of programming is simple-minded, unintelligent buffoonery, many whites assume that blacks are simple-minded, violent, unintelligent buffoons.
Unfortunately there is a dichotomy within the black community. On the one hand, you have those who realize how much BET reinfornces and even perpetuates very negative stereotypes of black America. On the other side, you have people who are too simple-minded to see past the thin entertainment value of BET and/or those who couldn't care less about what other racial groups conclude about blacks based off of BET.
Am I saying that BET is a fair medium on which to make generalizations about black America? Absolutely not. I am just saying that, even in 2009, there are many people who will make generalizations about all blacks off of video from 106 & Park or from a performance at the BET Awards.
If enough people were outraged with BET's programming, BET WOULD change its lineup. However, there are too many people who speak of the trash on BET who still tune in to watch BET programming. If BET's programming irritates you that much, don't tune in at all. Ever. It really is a shame to see a segment of the black community that refuses to acknowledge that they are an embarrassing spectacle viewed as being violent, lazy, immoral, and stupid. Everyone has the potential to be so much more in life. I wish BET would show programming that would encourage everyone to reach that potential.
Intellingent post. All BET really does it perpetuate the stereotypes that have been set out there for blacks since day one. What needs to be done is to have a new shift in paradigm. New shows are needed, better ones.
This hits home for me. The last time I reliously watched BET was when I was around the age of 16. I'm 26 now. So this obviously was back in 1999 when BET was basically a music channel network during the day and some nice programs at night followed by a couple hours of more music. BET was basically a music channel during much of the 90s. From Video Soul to Rap City to Jam Zone to In your ear to Planet Groove to Video Vibrations, whatever. AT night, they would play comic view which was actually funny. Then they would play BET nightly news followed by 30 minutes of Tavis Smiley and then Midnight Love which I LOVVED to watch.
NOTHING that was on that show 10 years ago is on it now. It's a bunch of coonery just like other posters described. It is a disgrace of a network and I do not even bother stopping at the channel and I would love for it to go off the air. It digusts me when I see shows like College Hill or Hell Date. The award shows have always been stupid but this past show did it for me. BET is in the business to make a mockery of the Black community.
In the 90s, they had again music channels. They also had Teen Summit. They also had REAL black sitcoms come on there. Today, it isn't even 1/5th of the network that it was back in 1999. The fall of 1999 was when BET started to fall off. They started to mimic MTV.
106 & Park= TRL
Hits from the Street= Tom Green Show
How I live= Cribs
Access Granted= Making the Video
Cartoons=Cartoons (and MTV's was MUCH better and much more entertaining)
Then in 2001, here they come by firing Tavis Smiley. I and everybody that I knew stopped taking the network serious after that. They destroyed Rap City. They destroyed the video networks. I just watch TVone and I wish more networks stop popping up. Viacom has destroyed MTV and VH1 itself as well.
With all of the posts I see about how BET has cancelled good sitcoms and let in the trash, this is what I think many people need to do. There is a need for people to get together and form new shows, show a side of the African-American community that you would only see on The Cosby Show, have World News on there too. I feel that the solution would be for people to do their own thing and bring good quality shows to TV. I believe that some of the best shows out there don't always care about ratings, but more about the quality of their work and bringing good things to the world.
I agree with everything said here so far, but one thing needs to be said:
Don't use BET as some sort of scapegoat. People seem to have this attitude that art/entertainment inspires life, when it's really the other way around. BET could drop off the earth tomorrow, and the "Ghetto" will still be the "Ghetto", so in some ways, I think we're really not addressing the deeper issue:
-Why do so many underclass people ('casue it's not just blacks) act out in such a way as depected in BET?
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