A White Conservative Educates Me About BET

After a discussion with a white conservative today, some things have come to my attention about BET, and it's purpose that I was not aware of.  I'd like to thank you, Ryan Cracka (@RyanCracka on Twitter), for opening my eyes.

It was always my belief that, for all of its faults (and there are many), BET was created to fill a void in the black community.  At the time of its creation, there was no programming that was controlled by black people.  With the exception of "Soul Train," the shows that did star black people back then were created, controlled, and owned by white people.  In addition, we are only 12% of the population.  Even if we managed to get a show on the air, every black person in America would have to watch it to keep it from getting canceled, which is impossible, unless the show is called "Good Times."  So that means for a show featuring black people to stay on network TV, white people had to like it, too.  It's the reason why almost everything from "Living Single" to "My Wife and Kids" got canceled. 

This is all stuff I believed. 

I also believed that BET wasn't created out of hate for white people, like so many white conservatives think, because that would be a breathtaking level of stupidity.  Watching TV to make white folks mad?  I'm pretty sure they would have taken us up on that.  I guess we'd just give that James Evans glare to the TV, and they'd keep running the world, guilt-free.

My thinking was that it's a numbers game.  It's harder for black people to get and sustain a show on TV that doesn't have white support, because our 12% is smaller than their 55%.  So, instead of fighting to get shows on channels that won't support them, why not start a channel just for us?  I figured white conservatives would like that, considering how much they talk about us not being self-sufficient.  Some might wonder, though, "What's wrong with having shows that cater to everyone?"  The answer is, "nothing."  But I believed that a black channel would be good, because we don't always like the same stuff, which is why there wasn't a large influx of black people watching "Friends." 

(Yes, I know, there were black people watching "Friends."  But usually, they were the only ones in their entire family and circle of friends who were.  Seriously, anyone know two black people that watched "Friends?"  The first time, not reruns.)

So, that's why there was a need for BET, or so I thought.  Black people wanted to watch stuff with black people in it, and white people didn't always want to deliver.  And it isn't because of racism that we don't always have shows.  It's economics.  I didn't understand all of this backlash, because no one give Latinos this kind of grief about their channels, and that's probably because no one understand what the fuck they're saying on Telemundo.  Hell, they have their own cable packages that include Spanish Disney Channel, Spanish ESPN, and Spanish CNN.  If we had our own Disney Channel, they'd probably riot. 

That what I was thinking.  But thanks to Ryan Cracka, I see the truth now. 

. @ThadOchocinco No, Thad. It comes from a fallacy - instilled by The Left - that we want to exclude you in the first place. #Colorblind
— Ryan (@RyanCracka) July 21, 2013

Brainwashing.  The only logical explanation.  And if I know anything, it's that a guy named "Ryan Cracka" is gonna have his finger on the pulse of Black America.  He continues: 

. @ThadOchocinco You are likely smart enough. But conditioning and brainwashing are poweful tools even against smart people.
— Ryan (@RyanCracka) July 21, 2013

He couldn't finish educating me, because he said I was putting words in his mouth.  I was only trying to interpret his words into a form that I could use, because we're not smart enough to figure out shit on our own.  Here I was thinking that black people wanted to see themselves represented in television, media, and politics, but that's crazy talk.  The simple answer is obviously 30 to 40 years of training freethinking human beings to succumb to the will of your political enemies in an attempt to gain voter loyalty.  Obviously. 

The best part is, it's not even our fault.  It's Nancy Pelosi's fault, evidently.  Or, uh...George Soros, I guess.  Whoever keeps getting that thoughtful Sean Hannity so worked up.  I would be more familiar with Fox News, but I've been brainwashed to segregate myself by watching BET.  In fact, I gotta wrap this up, because there might be some reruns of "The Game" on.

And only conservatives care enough about us to fight this injustice.  After all, you don't see them taking on Asians or Indians for segregating themselves, and they've been doing it for longer than America's been in existence.  So, the next time you see a Republican on TV using coded language like "thugs" or "welfare queens," trying to roll back voting rights, editing all of the slavery out of history books, or cutting spending for funding at HBCUs, just remember that they're doing it for you, to make things fair for everybody.  Because once we all hit rock bottom, we're going to look up and see the white conservatives standing over us again.  Just like they think it should be.

You bleeding assholes.

Should I be offended by Katt Williams' noose?

Katt Williams got on TV at the BET Hip-Hop Awards wearing a noose around his neck. I know this is old news, but I tend to stay away from television shows that exemplify a high-level of niggerdom. It's the same reason why I never watched the Source Awards or anything with Snoop Dogg in it.

Katt Williams followed that up with an appearance on CNN's "Out in the Open," a show that I was surprised to discover wasn't about the lives of gay people in an increasingly hostile world. Turns out, it's a show where the tough questions are asked, apparently. And during Katt Williams appearance, instead of answering the questions, he preferred to dance around them.

A lot of people were upset by what Katt Williams did, but I wasn't so sure that I should be one of them, so I decided to find out exactly what he said and did. I wanted to know if there was a statement he was making or anything like that, because it's not like I can just start defending or condemning the guy just based on a picture. Katt Williams has never been a source of political commentary before. He has, however, been the last bastion of support in the world of pimpery.

He's not like Nas, who has named his next album "Nigger," and touched off a flurry of hurt feelings and yelling and whatnot from black leaders, but support from people who actually listen to hip-hop. The reason why he's getting that support is because we know where Nas is coming from before we hear the album. If Nas is naming his album "Nigger," I'm sure he's got a reason for it. Nas isn't into shock value, as evidenced by his underwhelming album sales and lack of promotion. And I think it's a safe bet that Nas won't have songs about the joys of slavery or a remix of "I Wish I Was In Dixie."

So, I don't know where Katt Williams was coming from. The controversy surrounding the noose as of late was a clear inspiration, but what's the message he was trying to send? I didn't see his CNN appearance, but I did read the transcript of the show. Other than saying, "We have to get past this," he wasn't really clear about his message. That quote wasn't saying anything. He used the same line on "The Boondocks" when he was trying to convince Tom that "going upside a bitch's head" was the right way to "get the desired result"of obedience.

Should I be mad about what Katt Williams did? I'm still undecided on that. After all, I'm still not any closer to understanding why he did it. I'm not changing my stance on the noose, because after all, it's still a direct link to the days when lynchings were publicly acceptable. I'm not going to go off on Katt Williams, either, because I'm still pretty confused. I do think that the people who were hanging dummies from their houses on Halloween with nooses should be allowed to do that, because let's face it...it's Halloween and I'm pretty sure that the noose had already been invented well before the Klan got a hold to it.

I guess unless he's prepared to make a statement on why he did this, the best thing for Katt Williams to do is to take the noose off, along with his pink suit. The noose notwithstanding, the man ALWAYS looks ridiculous whenever he's in public.