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Thanks for the proper edit. You are right. Did not mean for it to come across that way. It's a delicate topic to comment on because of the degree of mind conditioning. I make generalizations based on observations that all too often get reduced to being labeled...this is PRECISELY the game they want us to play to keep us from ADVANCING the conversation. Words and ideals should not be barriers to the discussion...but instead bridges to the truth.
. I said that BET portrays an overall negative image of the black community and that BET equaled low-class blacks.
So folks, does BET help or hurt the black community?
I don't know how many people know this, but BET isn't black owned, and hasn't been for a while. The same folks who own VH-1 and MTV, own BET.
Given that VH-1 and MTV pour poison into the minds of white kids (just ask what positive vibes does Real World show) I don't know why expectations will be higher for BET.
Why is this even an issue for some people?
Are there not shows on all networks that portray Whites in a negative light? I hate to think of the portrayals -- funny though they may be -- of many White people in situation comedies. Or as criminals in dramas. Etc.
To be frank, there aren't very many "uplifting" programs on any of the networks about any group of people.
yes loads of show portray whites badly but.
1. There are a far broader cross section of shows featuring whites, so one negative white show doesn't hurt to the degree that one negative blacks show would.
2. Blacks have to fight against negative stereotypes. Mainstream whites don't have to, though sub groups like Southern whites, and especially those from the Appalachians also do.
3. Because of societal images of blacks (and other subgroups) even many blacks buy into these negative images. Look at how cynical media personalities (some of whom were blacks) successful transformed hip hop into gangsta rap, and determined that these were suitable images for blacks (even those from the middle class) to emulate. Now we have white kids thinking that this is what black culture is.
4. All one needs to do is to look at black music before it became totally dominated by gangsta rap to see the damage that BET did. Imagine Quincy Jones used to be in mainstream pop/R&B. Listen to the Philly Sound, or the Brothers Johnson in the 70s. This wasn't music for the elites. Those who listened to it are the same ones who mouth gangsta rap vulgarity today.
I think the real, underlying problem with BET is that you could easily get the idea that the whole country was black if you watch it enough. And the last time I checked, that wasn't the case. If you deliberately set yourself apart from society as a whole, then you can't really claim that you want to be a part of it, can you?
1. There are a far broader cross section of shows featuring whites, so one negative white show doesn't hurt to the degree that one negative blacks show would.
2. Blacks have to fight against negative stereotypes. Mainstream whites don't have to, though sub groups like Southern whites, and especially those from the Appalachians also do.
3. Because of societal images of blacks (and other subgroups) even many blacks buy into these negative images. Look at how cynical media personalities (some of whom were blacks) successful transformed hip hop into gangsta rap, and determined that these were suitable images for blacks (even those from the middle class) to emulate. Now we have white kids thinking that this is what black culture is.
4. All one needs to do is to look at black music before it became totally dominated by gangsta rap to see the damage that BET did. Imagine Quincy Jones used to be in mainstream pop/R&B. Listen to the Philly Sound, or the Brothers Johnson in the 70s. This wasn't music for the elites. Those who listened to it are the same ones who mouth gangsta rap vulgarity today.
Thanks for a good and thoughtful response.
1. It occurred to me as I read your point # 1 that my viewing is probably skewed. With the exception of "Rosewood", where the lead character and good all-around guy is Black, I don't watch crime dramas. I stick more with non-crime dramas and situation comedies. So I look at a show like "Blackish" and see a strong family portrayed...with their many peccadillos, of course.
2. Basically true. That's why I'm glad to see someone like Jussie Smollet's and even Yazz's characters on "Empire" who certainly seem like people in a bad situation trying to do good things.
3. I agree with you here, completely. It does seem like we have the beginnings of a realignment there (although perhaps this is wishful thinking) when I see singers like John Legend and Jussie Smollet doing something very good and upstanding, and getting kudos for doing so.
4. You may be right here. I've actually been glad to hear some of the music on "Empire", which I am quite appreciative of. I wouldn't listen to it otherwise, but some of it is quite entertaining, and for the most part reasonably clean.
When Robert Johnson owned BET back then, it truly represented "Black Entertainment Television."
Since he sold it off to Viacom, it has regressed into "Buffoonery Entertainment Television." MTV and VH1 are up there in that department of buffoonery, too.
Though I was way too young to comprehend back then, there were shows like Teen Summit that dealt with issues of young people in the Black communities. You don't even see positive programming like that...hardly ever. Instead you see useless, reality TV fodder and all these other fluff shows.
So folks, does BET help or hurt the black community?
Uh...
Maybe it entertains the black community.
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Just a guess...
