Judge Mathis, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Hatchett (above), the list goes on. The one thing these courtroom t.v. hosts have in common is they exploit the ignorance of poor and uneducated black people.The worst offender is Judge Hatchett. She is the Black equivalent of Maury Povich.
The scenario is almost always the same. A young Black woman and Young Black man enter the courtroom. Judge Hatchett declares that the woman is suing the man for paternity. The Judge questions both until it is revealed that the man may not be the father because the woman was sleeping with other men while she was being intimate with the young man. Then the DNA test. At least 8 out of 10 times the man ends up not being the father. So, the obvious implication, the women is loose, she sleeps around. What kind of woman doesn't even know who the father of her child is? Well according to this show, Black women.
Although White people appear on these shows too, the majority of the guests are Black. As we talk about derogatory media images it seems that more and more Black people are participating in exploiting our image. How can we protest Viacom and not Judge Hatchett and Judge Joe brown and all the others. Everywhere we turn there are examples of media stereotyping with Black people seemingly at the helm.
Black people have always been the victims of debasement by the media in America. Now it seems that for the right price Blacks are willing to participate in demeaning Black people too. Whether it's BET president Debra Lee, Judge Hatchett or Snoop Dogg (Calvin Broadus), the effect is the same as when White media companies defile our images.
There are attacks on all fronts. Sometimes I just want to tune it out. I want to ignore the media in general because I know it means me no good. But how does one ignore the media in 2007? It's everywhere, hundreds of thousands of outlets, new technology everyday.
This battle will go on I think until African Americans tune out what is referred to as mainstream media. About a month ago I cancelled my cable. I was feeling like a fool giving money to Viacom every month so they could produce Flava Of Love and all the junk on BET.
Every time you pay your cable bill a small portion goes to Viacom. Then multiply that by 25 million or so African American households with cable and that's a lot of money.
As long as we continue to give our money to the Viacoms of the world and as long as we don't hold people like Judge Hatchett accountable, it's just going to be more of the same. Next year this time there will be more protests, and the year after that and so on.
The slogan for a group of people who have been protesting outside of BET president Debra Lee's home is Enough is Enough. I agree.
Read more on this subject; What About Our Daughters - How Long Could You Live Without Cable? 381 days?
Mes Deux Cents - Why I Cancelled My Cable T.V.
