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I wish BET didn't suck. I wish there was a channel that ran old speeches and interviews with Dr. MLK Jr. and Malcolm X. Maybe they have live poetry readings by black poets and feature unplugged music by black musicians (instead of demeaning, simplistic, despicable rap — they don't even feature really good rap). They discuss the effects of society of black Americans and visa versa in an environment of intelligence and awareness.
Right now, a great deal of the station promotes the idea of the gangster lifestyle: scamming, pimping, prostitution, gang banging, abuse against women, disrespect of women, assault, murder, etc. Black America doesn't have to be these things. Actually, most of black America isn't these things. BET is to black people what Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is for homosexuals, and it makes me sick. It's a stereotyping and has a negative effect not only on the image of black people by non-blacks, but actually can serve to effect black people's view of themselves (that information from many conversations I've had with my black friends. I don't pretend to know what it's like to be black. I'm white.)
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