Overstating the Case.

In a somewhat histrionic column on The Root, Janelle Jolley praises some major advertisers (Proctor & Gamble, GM, and McDonald’s among them) for pulling ads from BET’s 106 & Park and Rap City:

We’ve already suffered for years from this toxic material wreaking havoc in the core of our community and shaping the public’s perception of us. Our communities have watched as our youth have moved further and further away from our rich cultural and historical legacy and closer to the fictitious universe of media caricatures that bombard us daily: images of the black man as a wreckless [sic] and violent thug. These characterizations have instilled distrust and fear among law enforcement, which in the cases of Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell, ended in tragedy.

We dislike BET as much as anyone else, but isn’t this overstating the case a wee bit? Besides the annoying nod to the mythical Halcyon Days of Blackness — back when black folks were all proud and upstanding and God-fearing and looked out for each other and it took a village to raise a child and life-affirming soul music wafted from every window — this argument seems to give BET way more power than it probably deserves. For all of BET’s misogyny women and obnoxiousness, one of the big reasons it garners so much contempt (much of it very deserved) is because for the parents of the mostly teenaged viewership, it’s unapproachable, loud and bewildering — which is sort of the point. This ‘immoral youth’ refrain predates rap and rock and jazz and ragtime. And it’s always overheated.

And the through-line between 106 & Park to Amadou Diallo isn’t as neat as Jolley paints it. The distrust between members of law enforcement and black people predates BET by forever; there were countlessly more Diallos before BET was founded in 1980. This argument also assumes that cops are sitting around watching BET, which is not likely (more likely: they’re watching the local news, with all its insidious racial suggestions).

(Ugh. Can’t believe they got us playing devil’s advocate for BET over here. We need a shower.)

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
G.D.

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  • LH

    “Besides the annoying nod to the mythical Halcyon Days of Blackness — back when black folks were all proud and upstanding and God-fearing and looked out for each other and it took a village to raise a child and life-affirming soul music wafted from every window — this argument seems to give BET way more power than it probably deserves.”

    In a word: brilliant.

    I think that for many, expressing disapproval of BET is an excercise in cultural correctness more than anything else. As much as BET can be criticised for, let’s be clear: it didn’t start the fire.

  • Big Word

    Blaming BET+Buppies=Welfare Queens+Right Wing Republican

  • LH: thanks.

    BW: it’s gotten to the point where whenever someone complains about BET I just tune them out. Rare is the argument against BET that doesn’t resort to hyperbole. BET sucks, sure. A lot of that is specific to BET, but I think that suckiness and pandering to the lowest common denominator is just the nature of the medium of television.

  • Grump

    I just hate it when folks use shows that no longer exist(unCut) as a reason why bET sux NOW…I was distraught when they cut that show.

  • “shaping the public’s perception of us”

    Ugh. If you’re going to criticize something, you really need something more substantial than “what will the neighbors think?”

  • Tasha

    (Ugh. Can’t believe they got us playing devil’s advocate for BET over here. We need a shower.)

    nail on the head

  • STeve

    I agree with this wholeheartedly. I mean its the least novel thing to hate nowadays .

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