Dear Source:
I am glad someone is finally going to take Viacom to task for their programming. It is indeed insulting to the black community, not only in the Virgin Islands, but the entire country as a whole. They don't seem to realize the impact of this negative programming, or what it can do to the young people, whether black or white.
Case in point: Recently (last December), a young white person came to me (I had known him for maybe 6 months, casually) and asked to stay for a week, said he had lost everything and needed a week to pull himself together. I said ok, you got a week, that's all, find a job, then get out. He immediately started watching BET and listening to that awful nasty "rap" music. That evening, he was arrested for "possession", and went to jail. He got out in about thirty days, and showed up here again, and started doing the same thing again.
It was obvious he was emulating the behavior shown on that channel, from his speech to his way of walking, a white boy emulating bad black behavior.
He didn't last the week, violated probation by never doing what was required for his release, and he was picked up again and sent to the State Prison for the full 5 years sentence. The State of Florida has a ZERO tolerance for this behavior. And BET encourages it.
Do they not know that this influence isn't needed or appreciated at all? This isn't a "portrayal" of the black community, it's "betrayal".
The waste of a youth's life over emulating the behavior shown on BET is a horrible thing. Five years is a long time to spend over being gullible and stupid.
I fully support the efforts here to find some way to reign in this monster that supposedly is trying to advance the black community, when in reality they are doing exactly the opposite.
I have since removed the channel from my television sets. I got nowhere getting Comcast to remove it from their channel lineup.
Dan Hazen
Florida
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