Gyant Unplugged

Syracuse University professor and writer, Dr. Boyce Watkins, offers up a bit more explanation to his controversial blog post from earlier this week titled “BET Has Officially Become The New & Improved KKK”.

If you didn’t know or aren’t aware, Watkins published a scathing blog entry on yourblackworld.com criticizing the Viacom owned BET network. In the riveting piece, the well-known and respected social critic held no punches on his take regarding BET’s social irresponsibility as it relates to African-Americans. And his specific target is none other then hip-hop’s reigning king Lil Wayne:

BET, the media company that targets black consumers, but is ultimately controlled by a predominantly white organization called Viacom, is not exactly on the same page when it comes to their assessment of Lil Wayne or any other artist (i.e. R. Kelly) who can be directly linked to the holocaust occurring within black America today. Given that models of profit maximization rarely call for any assessment of the negative externalities that result from unethical corporate behavior, the executive committee for the BET Awards made the interesting decision to give the greatest number of award nominations to Lil Wayne, the man who said that he would love to (among other things) make a woman fall in love with him, convince her to steal and kill for him, and then murder her and send her dead body back to her boyfriend (“and then I’ll murder that b*tch and send her body back to yo ass”). Oh yea, he also said that he would kill little babies, have sex with every girl in the world if he could, gladly use the gun he carries on his hip and “leave a nigga’s brains on the street.”

It might be almost feasible to overlook the “kill little babies comment” were it not for the innocent three-year old boy who was shot in the head by a 21-year old black male in my hometown just a couple of weeks ago – these atrocities are all too common in countless neighborhoods across America. Also, this music is not simply harmless entertainment for millions of black youth who’ve had their history stolen during slavery and actually look to hip-hop music to tell them how to dress, talk, think, act and live. There is no high school speaker more popular than a hip-hop star.

The Ku Klux Klan has been regularly criticized for encouraging violence against African Americans and terrorizing our community. But the truth is that the Klan doesn’t have much power anymore, and their thirst for African American blood seems to have waned a bit. At the same time, Lil Wayne and artists like him have made a habit of encouraging black men to shoot one another, to abuse or murder women, to consume suicidal amounts of drugs and alcohol and to engage in irresponsible, deadly sexual behavior.

As a result, black men are the most likely to die from gun violence, mass incarceration continues to decimate black families, drug addiction and possession ruins black lives in droves, and HIV is the leading killer of black women. So, the truth is that Lil Wayne-like artists and the corporate armies producing this weaponized genocide have killed more black people than the KKK ever could. By accelerating, financing and supporting the “Lil Wayne gospel” to a community that is already dying, BET has effectively positioned itself as a new and improved version of the KKK. In fact, if we had a choice between eliminating the KKK or getting rid of BET, the black community would benefit more from the latter. [Read More]

Direct and in your face isn’t it?! Listen, Mr. Watkins is echoing my point on my now disdain for a culture I once held near and dear to my heart. While I can’t point the finger at BET specifically — and only because starting with them barely scratches the surface on the worlds attack on young black people– I can understand Dr. Boyce’s contention and passion on this issue. From rap figures calling women, “hoes and bitches”, to female’s defining a man’s value by pointless materialism, it doesn’t take a pair of bifocals to observe that music can elevate, inspire and or destroy. Add thirsty corporations, who’s only goal is to improve their over-all bottom line, and you only compound an increasingly growing problem that’s reflecting generations devolution.

Watch Dr. Boyce Watkins expound on his earlier gripe with BET and Lil Wayne above it’s worth every minute.

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