BET Has GONE TO FAR

This letter is in reference to your upcoming show Hot Ghetto Mess, set to premier sometime this summer. I am essentially writing in the hope that my voice will be combined with other viewers and have a impact. I am extremely appalled and simply disgusted by not only the shows a minstrel face logo but the format of the show in general. Your website provided a synopsis of the show stating that it’s intention was to be “entertaining, tongue-in-cheek examination of the good, the bad and the ugly of Black popular culture.” Who is this entertaining? It is shaming the black community and poking fun at individuals that do not fit into the majority “white” society. I am ashamed as a black women that a venue that I thought to be uplifting for my community is going out of it’s way to put the black community down. This show is highlighting our society’s stereo types: that is done to us by people outside of he black community enough. Why are we doing it to ourselves? There are so many uplifting, positive images that go ignored. Why are we canceling and ignoring these images and broadcasting negative ones? What is the purpose of a show that highlights a culture’s deficiency? It may be occasionally funny in stand up comedy as it seen as an individual opinion. Is this what a black network is trying to represent? With the recent merger or acquisition (I am uncertain of the details) of BET and MTV it appears that the format of empowerment and entertainment no longer exist. The common term in the hip-hop culture would be that BET has sold out. It is understandable that when capital is involved changes are made to embody the new vision. Personally this show goes beyond understanding .Please rethink this show and the impact that it will have on the progress of black television programming.

This is where we came from, it is not funny. Why are we subjecting ourselves, what are we teaching our children? YOU do have a social responsibility.