Why I loathe Black Entertainment Television sometimes

Remember the good old days of BET when executes actually gave a damn about creating original programming that dealt with the issues that black people face like Teen Summit, The Tavis Smiley Show and what ever happened to the nightly news with Jackie Reid? Is there any news programming period on BET nowadays? What – do black people just not watch the news anymore? What the hell? I’m must admit though, they do seem to be trying to get their feet wet regarding original programming – they seem to be following the lead of all the other networks by creating a couple of new reality shows like “College Hill.” But the majority of it looks so low budget you can’t stand to sit and watch it all the way through. Besides, following the lives of college students is played – that’s MTV’s territory. That network has the “Real World” down to a science. But hey, at least give them credit for being the first network to chronicle a rapper’s last days of freedom before she goes to the slammer with “Little Kim: Countdown to Lockdown.” (Can you detect my sarcasm?)

As an avid television connoisseur who admits to wasting hours vegetating in from of the “stupid box” I can honestly say I rarely tune into BET for more than a few seconds while flipping endlessly through channels. I, the black viewer and supposedly BET’s target audience, find nothing interesting in the same handful of videos played over and over and reruns of “The Parkers” as if we didn’t get enough of them on UPN. Somehow BET has widdled what they call “Black” entertainment into a genre that is so small that anybody that goes outside the box of what is “Black” going to be left out.

So what is “Black”? Apparently it’s scantily clad women jiggling their booties to “Laffy Taffy” and not the clever hip hop lyricisms of “The Roots,” “Little Brother,” “Mos Def” and “Common”; even though he has been getting more air time since hooking up with Kanye West. It’s not the electrifying Lenny Krativz; the last time I check he was still black and it’s definitely not the country crooner “Cowboy Troy.” My thing is, if you’re going to have a network called “Black Entertainment Television” why exclude so many black entertainers just because they don’t fit the particular mold? Isn’t that being prejudiced against entertainers who look like the “target” audience that you’re going for; you know…..those descendants of slaves that share a culture and collectively call themselves African-Americans? Or what about black music of African and Caribbean decent? What about catering to their tastes just a little bit? Are they not black? Or do they just not matter because they’re not originally from this country? But why should I really be surprised and expect anything more of BET? This is the same network who named Louis Farrakhan “Man of the Year”; but that man is another blog for another time. What really took the cake was when R. Kelly was named something like “The Greatest Artist of All Time” or some overrated title either last year or the year previous to that during the BET Music Awards. Somehow the network and fans developed amnesia to the man’s past history of sexing up underage girls but I digress. The one thing I will give BET credit for is their Sunday worship programming. Nothing like a little praise to balance out the rump shaking from the night before!

I’m not saying to ban artists like Dem Franchise boys; although I do want to literally start tearing stuff up in a fit of rage every time I hear “Laffy Taffy.” I’m also not saying that artists should tone down the sexual overtones in their videos either because I totally get that sex sells. I’m just saying give me a little variety. Make room for the other folks too. Don’t give me excuses like “BET doesn’t break new artists” or “the music isn’t relevant to the BET audience” or “it’s too intelligent.” Instead you choose to insult my intelligence by airing something like “Laffy Taffy” twenty-four hours a day that’s suppose to be just ignorant enough for me to understand. Come on!! (Have I mentioned how much I hate “Laffy Taffy”? Kelis’ “Bossy” is right up there too!) I mean, what is BET really afraid of by giving some of these left-stage artists a little shine? They can carve out time in the middle of the night for “BET Uncut” videos but they can’t find a slot for a little “Black Thought”?

Or maybe....just maybe I’m in the minority here. Maybe I’m expecting too much. Maybe this is all that black people want to see. Maybe we’re just as one dimensional as we seem. I don’t know black people; give me some feedback here! If BET should start taking more responsibility with program choices, shouldn’t black people start taking more responsibility in what they choose to listen to and watch? Maybe BET is just giving the people what they want. Or maybe they’re just not giving them a chance and seriously underestimating their audience. Who knows??!!

And that folks, is the end of my rant!