Commentary: Despite the Network's Many Missteps, BET Did Get One Thing Right – We've Got to Do Better
Date: Thursday, August 02, 2007
By: Gregory Kane, BlackAmericaWeb.com 
Black America's self-appointed guardians of the sacred racial image got it wrong again. After all the whining, all the complaining and all the protests, it turns out that the BET series "Hot Ghetto Mess" wasn't that bad after all.
Of course, if you looked in your television listings for the show under that name, you'd have never found it. The objections from that segment of African-Americans determined to be offended by just about anything caused BET officials to wimp out. They changed the name at the last minute to the innocuous "We Got To Do Better."
According to several news reports, BET execs said in a statement that "We decided to change the name of the show because we believe that the apprehension about the original title was taking attention away from the show's real intent, which is to offer social commentary in a context that sparks dialogue, debate and, most importantly, change."
Well, they changed for those reasons and because, according to a Newsweek story, Home Depot and State Farm yanked their ads from the show. Guess that proves what folk singer Bob Dylan said is right: Money doesn't talk; it swears.
Still, for my money, "Hot Ghetto Mess"/"We Got To Do Better" was actually better than I anticipated. I especially liked the "Street Walkin'" segments, where a cast member hit the concrete to ask people -- most of them black -- questions to see how well-informed they are.
First, the good news: Most of the respondents knew that black Americans served in the military before we got the right to vote. Now the bad news: Lordy, Lordy, some of our peeps are hopelessly misinformed.
AP Video
Some appeared completely befuddled when asked what the letters in the NAACP stood for. Others were unaware of how many blacks are on the Supreme Court and who they are. I watched this fiasco and actually gained a new respect for all those black folks who despise Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. At least they know who the man is, and why they don't like him.
Others were similarly stumped when asked when slavery ended in the United States. Some tried to con their way through the question by claiming slavery never ended, but it's no fair playing semantics. The question clearly meant which constitutional amendment ended slavery (Perhaps the show's writers should have framed it that way.).
The answer the show's writers chose to give was the only problem I had with "We Got To Do Better." A graphic informed viewers that "the 13th Amendment officially ended slavery February 3rd, 1865." That's not quite accurate.
Both houses of Congress passed the 13th Amendment by the required two-thirds majority in January of 1865. But constitutional amendments don't become the law of the land just because both houses of Congress pass them. Amendments become law when three-fourths of all the states ratify the amendment.
As of Feb. 3, 1865, only seven of 36 states had ratified the 13th Amendment. Three-fourths of the states didn't ratify the amendment until Dec. 6, 1865.
Another graphic on the show revealed a spelling problem: "And now ... a word from our sponsers." It's "sponsors," dimwits.
Oh, heavenly Jesus, please help my people! Quick, somebody rush over to BET and drop off a mess of dictionaries.
But hey, I'm willing to forgive these imperfections if the overall goal of the show is to keep people informed. BET honchos have to do something to atone for dropping the network's Monday through Friday nightly newscasts at 11.
There's no good reason for black folks not to know what the letters in the NAACP stand for. I learned that in the seventh grade from Mr. Golden, my social studies teacher. I learned what the letters SCLC, CORE and SNCC stood for too.
Mr. Golden taught us who Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X were and what the Nation of Islam was. He taught us that 186,000 black troops fought in the Civil War. We had to learn all that and a mess of current events or we didn't pass his class.
Oh, did I mention that Mr. Golden is black and that he taught in an all-black school? Now we have black students in integrated schools who know none of this stuff. Ah, the blessings of diversity!
I'd wager there are way too few Mr. Goldens teaching black children today. It looks like we may have to settle for BET's latest show -- no matter what it's called.
