BET's Top 25 Events That (Mis)Shaped Black America
It looks like BET has come up with the Top 25 events that have (mis) shaped black america. Some of them I agree with (gangs, the n-word) others are just plain stupid (jheri curls and elvis).
_____
25. Jheri Curls
On behalf of furniture everywhere, lay off the activator. Michael hair's caught on fire, there is a lesson there. Was the Jheri curl ever cool?
24. Hurricane KatrinaHurricane
Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and caused devastation along much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States. Most notable in media coverage were the catastrophic effects on the city of New Orleans, La., and coastal Mississippi. Criticism of the federal, state and local governments' reaction to the storm was widespread. Kanye West will long be remembered for his comment about George W Bush. Where were our leaders and WHERE was the help!
23. The ‘N-Word’
Is this a term of endearment in the Black community? Is it ever acceptable to use the “N-word?”
22. The Counter Intelligence Program
Nicknamed “COINTELPRO,” it is that the vehicle by which the FBI and police investigated and disrupted the activities of Black political leaders and organizations in the United States. Among the subjects were Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panthers. The founding document of COINTELPRO directed FBI agents to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the activities of these movements and their leaders
21. Elvis
Sure, there were others – including Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Pablo Picasso and Pat Boone – but Elvis was perhaps the biggest and most impactive of the Black-culture pimps.
20. Negative Images in Hip Hop
The defamation of women in lyrics, deaths related to gangster rap and how they reinforce the notion that it’s cool to be a thug, sell drugs and exploit women.
19. The ‘Bling’ Phenomenon
The “bling” phenomenon has converted old-fashioned ideas into new-fangled fads. “Bling” has been tied to blood diamonds in African, fueling the suggestion that African Americans are more interested in petty materialism than in community investment and growth.
18. Welfare
Government financial aid doled out to certain individuals, groups or entities that are unable to support themselves, Welfare has become like quicksand for far too many African Americans, in the eyes of a growing number of Americans. Is the Black community guilty of taking advantage of Welfare? Stereotypes about Welfare.
17. Justice System / Prison
Why are all our men locked up? Are we given a fair shake in the court system? Is legislation, like the Rockefeller Drug Laws, created specifically to target Black men?
16. Color struck
With “paper bag” tests and all the other nonsense that comes along with self-hate, the Black community has been plagued by a psychological disease known as “slave mentality.” And don’t forget the subsets of self-hate like the adoration of “good hair” and disdain for broad noses, thick lips and anything remotely reminiscent of our Black African heritage.
15. Ward Connerly
No Black man has worked so hard to maintain the White man’s gargantuan head start.
14. Supreme Court
Known for such landmark injustices as Plessey v. Ferguson, the Dred Scott decision and the 2000 election debacle, the U.S. Supreme Court also provided a few not-so-repulsive surprises, like the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments and Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. How does Thurgood Marshall and his successor, Clarence Thomas, fit into the High Court discussion?
13. Ronald Reagan
Perhaps the first sign what Ronald Reagan would mean to Black America was when he decided to kick off his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Miss., with a crowd of Klansmen in attendance. The city was most famous for the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. His presidency arguably destroyed the hopes of a generation. During his term he attempted to dismantle of public education system and created “Reaganomics,” which hindered prosperity from trickling down to the Black masses.
12. The Bombing of Black Wall Street
The sight of a happy, affluent Black community was too much for angry, jealous Whites in Tulsa, Okla., in 1921, and a false rumor was enough to spark a mass riot that left hundreds of African Americans dead, and a swath of Black homes and businesses burned to the ground. Perhaps the saddest fact associated with this historic atrocity is that the U.S. government and local media were complicit in the death and destruction.
11. Soul Food
Sure it tastes good, but it will kill you. It is fatty, salty, with too much sugar.
10. GangsCrips and Bloods
who fight for streets they do not own. It is a blatant war on Black unity.
9. Hollywood
8. Murders of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King
The deaths of our two greatest leaders at early ages left a void that has never been properly filled. Their lives were cut short in the midst of their most important work. Are we living up to their dreams?
7. Proud To Be Dumb
When did it become cool to be dumb? When did it become corny to be smart? Why are some Black kids “too cool for school?”
6. The Ku Klux Klan
Forged during Reconstruction, to beat back the advances of newly freed slaves after the Civil War, the KKK erupted into a fraternity of White supremacists bent on the annihilation and anarchy. It later expanded its web of hate to include, Jews, Catholics, foreigners and gays. The Klan’s usual tools of destruction are terrorism, intimidation and perpetuation of ignorance.
5. Apartheid
South Africa’s brutal system of racial segregation, enforced by the White Afrikaner population for nearly five decades, apartheid finally ended in 1994. But it took a string riots, murders and martyrs – in addition to mounting pressure from the United States and other nations to label South Africa a pariah – to force the racist regime’s hand. In a true reversal of circumstances, Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s most powerful symbol of resistance to apartheid, ascended from longtime political prisoner to president of the troubled nation.
4. Religion
The fact that both Christianity and Islam condoned slavery is an undeniable stain on organized religion. But on the flip side, Quakers and others who believed that slavery was blight on humanity, manned the Underground Railroad and waxed eloquently against its evils. In addition, the Black community’s faith in a better society carried it through the throes of inequality.
3. AIDS
If it is a biological weapon, it’s a brilliant one. What else has the power to begin emptying out the continent of Africa while wiping out the Black inner-cities of America? There are more than 40 million AIDS orphans in Africa; in the United States, Black Americans, who comprise only 13 percent of the U.S. population account for more than 40 percent of all AIDS cases.
On behalf of furniture everywhere, lay off the activator. Michael hair's caught on fire, there is a lesson there. Was the Jheri curl ever cool?
24. Hurricane KatrinaHurricane
Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and caused devastation along much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States. Most notable in media coverage were the catastrophic effects on the city of New Orleans, La., and coastal Mississippi. Criticism of the federal, state and local governments' reaction to the storm was widespread. Kanye West will long be remembered for his comment about George W Bush. Where were our leaders and WHERE was the help!
23. The ‘N-Word’
Is this a term of endearment in the Black community? Is it ever acceptable to use the “N-word?”
22. The Counter Intelligence Program
Nicknamed “COINTELPRO,” it is that the vehicle by which the FBI and police investigated and disrupted the activities of Black political leaders and organizations in the United States. Among the subjects were Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panthers. The founding document of COINTELPRO directed FBI agents to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the activities of these movements and their leaders
21. Elvis
Sure, there were others – including Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Pablo Picasso and Pat Boone – but Elvis was perhaps the biggest and most impactive of the Black-culture pimps.
20. Negative Images in Hip Hop
The defamation of women in lyrics, deaths related to gangster rap and how they reinforce the notion that it’s cool to be a thug, sell drugs and exploit women.
19. The ‘Bling’ Phenomenon
The “bling” phenomenon has converted old-fashioned ideas into new-fangled fads. “Bling” has been tied to blood diamonds in African, fueling the suggestion that African Americans are more interested in petty materialism than in community investment and growth.
18. Welfare
Government financial aid doled out to certain individuals, groups or entities that are unable to support themselves, Welfare has become like quicksand for far too many African Americans, in the eyes of a growing number of Americans. Is the Black community guilty of taking advantage of Welfare? Stereotypes about Welfare.
17. Justice System / Prison
Why are all our men locked up? Are we given a fair shake in the court system? Is legislation, like the Rockefeller Drug Laws, created specifically to target Black men?
16. Color struck
With “paper bag” tests and all the other nonsense that comes along with self-hate, the Black community has been plagued by a psychological disease known as “slave mentality.” And don’t forget the subsets of self-hate like the adoration of “good hair” and disdain for broad noses, thick lips and anything remotely reminiscent of our Black African heritage.
15. Ward Connerly
No Black man has worked so hard to maintain the White man’s gargantuan head start.
14. Supreme Court
Known for such landmark injustices as Plessey v. Ferguson, the Dred Scott decision and the 2000 election debacle, the U.S. Supreme Court also provided a few not-so-repulsive surprises, like the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments and Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. How does Thurgood Marshall and his successor, Clarence Thomas, fit into the High Court discussion?
13. Ronald Reagan
Perhaps the first sign what Ronald Reagan would mean to Black America was when he decided to kick off his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Miss., with a crowd of Klansmen in attendance. The city was most famous for the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. His presidency arguably destroyed the hopes of a generation. During his term he attempted to dismantle of public education system and created “Reaganomics,” which hindered prosperity from trickling down to the Black masses.
12. The Bombing of Black Wall Street
The sight of a happy, affluent Black community was too much for angry, jealous Whites in Tulsa, Okla., in 1921, and a false rumor was enough to spark a mass riot that left hundreds of African Americans dead, and a swath of Black homes and businesses burned to the ground. Perhaps the saddest fact associated with this historic atrocity is that the U.S. government and local media were complicit in the death and destruction.
11. Soul Food
Sure it tastes good, but it will kill you. It is fatty, salty, with too much sugar.
10. GangsCrips and Bloods
who fight for streets they do not own. It is a blatant war on Black unity.
9. Hollywood
8. Murders of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King
The deaths of our two greatest leaders at early ages left a void that has never been properly filled. Their lives were cut short in the midst of their most important work. Are we living up to their dreams?
7. Proud To Be Dumb
When did it become cool to be dumb? When did it become corny to be smart? Why are some Black kids “too cool for school?”
6. The Ku Klux Klan
Forged during Reconstruction, to beat back the advances of newly freed slaves after the Civil War, the KKK erupted into a fraternity of White supremacists bent on the annihilation and anarchy. It later expanded its web of hate to include, Jews, Catholics, foreigners and gays. The Klan’s usual tools of destruction are terrorism, intimidation and perpetuation of ignorance.
5. Apartheid
South Africa’s brutal system of racial segregation, enforced by the White Afrikaner population for nearly five decades, apartheid finally ended in 1994. But it took a string riots, murders and martyrs – in addition to mounting pressure from the United States and other nations to label South Africa a pariah – to force the racist regime’s hand. In a true reversal of circumstances, Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s most powerful symbol of resistance to apartheid, ascended from longtime political prisoner to president of the troubled nation.
4. Religion
The fact that both Christianity and Islam condoned slavery is an undeniable stain on organized religion. But on the flip side, Quakers and others who believed that slavery was blight on humanity, manned the Underground Railroad and waxed eloquently against its evils. In addition, the Black community’s faith in a better society carried it through the throes of inequality.
3. AIDS
If it is a biological weapon, it’s a brilliant one. What else has the power to begin emptying out the continent of Africa while wiping out the Black inner-cities of America? There are more than 40 million AIDS orphans in Africa; in the United States, Black Americans, who comprise only 13 percent of the U.S. population account for more than 40 percent of all AIDS cases.
2. Drugs
Crack, heroin, cocaine and alcohol are the most efficient ways to undermine the Black family, Black progress and Black ambition. They are far more effective in destroying Black folks than lynchings .
1. Slavery
If this doesn't speak for itself, I don't know what does.
