Nov. 13. 2006
The News Argus
3
Opinions and Editorials
From the Editor:
Kanye the Crying Baby
Erin C. Perkins
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Once again, Kanye West has
cried over spilled miUc. Wait,
perhaps that is not necessarily
fair. He has regressed from his
20s to terrible two's and
thrown a massive humiliating
temper tantrum that puts all
temperamental toddlers to
shame. Although the rap star
was named Best Hip Hop
artist, he still came off as a
sore loser at the MTV Europe
Music Awards, according to
the Associated Press.
Evidently, Kanye was so
disgruntled at not winning for
Best Video that he bombarded
the stage when the award was
being presented to Justice and
Simian for "We are
your friends," and
mouthed off why he
should have won the
prize for his video,
"Touch the Sky." The
same carelessly, out
spoken and stuttering
cupid that struck
Kanye with the non
sense arrow during his
political tirade against
President Bush for Hurricane
Katrina succeeded again,
except for less humane pur
poses.
During an embarrassing
tirade flooded with expletives,
Kanye reasoned
that his video
should have won
because "it cost a
million dollars,
Pamela Anderson
was in it [and] I
was jumping across
canyons."
According to
Kanye's massive
ego, "If 1 don't win,
the award shows loses credi
bility." Right, because all the
music award shows are
invalid if they don't recognize
the humiliating, simple-mind
ed rhyming, beat-robbing
lyrics of Kanye as utter
genius. There is nothing
wrong with taking original
songs and putting a new spin
to them, but does every song
have to be a sample of some
one else's work?
Kanye's silly moment of
ridicule is exactly what the
black community needs,
another negative image of
African-Americans. As if there
aren't enough thanks to the
sexually explicit, drug-related
and gangster lyrics of 50 cent.
Snoop Dog, Lil'Wajme and
countless others, Kanye has
added to the increasing
stereotype. As an African-
American celebrity, he has an
unspoken responsibility, espe
cially when traveling to for
eign countries. Many coun
tries are not exposed to
African-Americans in a
diverse setting, so they are
unaware that African-
Americans do not always
throw hissy fits and cry over
spilled milk like Kanye West.
Unfortunately, we are left to
rely on celebrities and other
public figures to represent a
positive image of the Black
community outside the U.S.
Thanks, Kanye, job well done.
PERKINS
Overseas, I made them respect me as a black woman
Brittney L. Huntley
BLACK COLLEGE WIRE AND THE
BLACK COLLEGIAN
Last year, as a sopho
more at the University
of Cincinnati, I decid
ed to live and study abroad
as part of the imiversity's
Global Studies Program. I
chose Dubai, part of the
United Arab Emirates, a
desert country about the
size of South Carolina that
boasts one of the highest
standards of living in the
world.
As an African American
woman there, I was labeled,
sexually harassed and con
stantly defending myself
against negative stereotypes
of African Americans,
due to the negative influ
ence of rap music and U.S.
television.
Because of the extensive
use of the word "nigga" by
African American rap
artists, comedians and TV
programs that supposedly
characterize the "hood," I
found that this word is now
a part of the daily conversa
tion of Arabs and Africans
in various parts of the
globe.
The lack of understanding
about African American
people was so great that I
created a history project
identifying histor^s most
awakening civil rights
movements, drawing on
Editorial
Policy
The News Argus is a
student publication of
Winston-Salem State
University, Winston-
Salem, N.C.
similarities between world
leaders while shining light
on the history and culture
of African Americans.
I now have a new
perspective on the Middle
East and Islam. 1 challenge
other African American stu
dents and people of the
world to redirect their atten
tion to the things
that matter most in terms
of our being respected
globally.
Dubai is one of seven
emirates (a federation of
independent states, ruled by
an emir) that make up the
United Arab Emirates,
located in the southeastern
comer of the Arabian
Peninsula.
Ten years ago, Dubai
consisted of sand and
very poor Bedouin people
who lived nomadic lives
and depended mostly on
marine life to feed their
families.
Today, Dubai has consid
erable wealth and economic
stability because of its oil
and tourism industries,
mainly tourism.
Some call Dubai the Las
Vegas of the Middle East
because of its extravagant
architecture and fabulous
lifestyle. Dubai is home to
expatriates from all over the
world. Its diverse popula
tion encourages internation
al cooperation on both cor-
The views and opinions
expressed on the Opinion
page are those of the writer
and do not necessarily
reflect the views of The
News Argus staff or of the
faculty, staff, students, or
administration of the uni
versity.
We welcome letters to
the editor and opinion
columns. Letters and
porate and cultural levels.
Yet ignorance and
stereotypes are inescapable
and widespread, negatively
affecting individuals and
in some cases entire
races.
While in Dubai I met
Mohammed, an Ethiopian
Muslim, and others who
had adopted much of the
African American rap cul
ture. Mohammed's clothing,
speech and demeanor all
reflected that he admired
rap videos.
I hated Mohammed's
obsession with the word
"nigga." He used it in
his daily conversation,
when he would greet me,
and especially during
basketball games. I under
stand why he thought the
basketball court was the
proper setting for its use,
but I asked Mohammed
where he learned "nigga."
He said that when he lived
in South Central Los
Angeles, the blacks taught
him to differentiate between
the words "nigga" and
"nigger," which would
determine whether you
offend an African American.
"Nigga" is jargon for "nig
ger;" therefore, many blacks
feel that "nigga" is less
offensive.
How sad that my African
brothers would think that
calling me such a name
columns should not exceed
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would be acceptable to
me!
I also met a young white
woman there from Brown
University. It seems that in
all our encounters, she
could use only rap music to
initiate conversation. She
explained how she lived in
wealthy upper Rhode
Island. Her brother lived in
the southern area, where he
was frequently robbed and
now had a racist perspec
tive of blacks. She said that
most of her encounters with
black people were positive
and that she "absolutely
loved us."
While at the computer
lab, she used her media-
playing software to present
her collection of Biggie
Smalls albums and Tupac
downloads. I never correct
ed her for her limited
interest in who I was as
a person. Truthfully, I was
so shocked at how insensi
tive and limited her interac
tions were with someone
like me that I forgot to get
angry.
I did confront my history
professor about her unrea
sonable grading system
and biased perspective
of Americans. In addition
to making negative refer
ences to the United States,
she applied different,
higher standards to
American students than
ment, classification, e-mail
address and phone number
so we may contact you for
verification and confirma
tion.
The News Argus editors
reserve the right to edit let
ters and opinion colunms
for length, grammar, clari
ty, profanity and style, but
not for ideas. Anonymous
letters will not be printed.
to those who were local.
When I met with her, con
cerned I could not expect to
earn a fair grade, I agreed to
write two research papers
and create a presentation
on Middle Eastern history
in order to pass the course.
At this point, I had experi
enced the positive and
negative messages music
can convey and the stereo
types that are generated,
resulting in a real distortion
of our true image and cul
ture in this part of the
world.
I felt compelled to defend
my honor as an African
American woman against
the negative images of us
in the Middle East, as char
acterized in the images
of rap artists and their
degrading lyrics. I am
proud to be an African
American, but I am very
disappointed at how little
our people actually know
or care about our history,
and how little of our true
culture is positively depict
ed in the Middle East.
Music is a powerful source
of communication, with the
power to distort or destroy
the reputation of individu
als and even an entire
race. I felt compelled to
speak up about these
distortions.
My presentation was enti
tled, "Awakening Civil
Rights Movements in
History." I welcomed
this opportunity to shatter
stereotypes. I introduced
the African American
people as major contribu
tors in the civil rights move
ment of the 1950s and
1960s: We inspired people
worldwide to fight not only
for civil rights, but human
rights.
1 drew on comparisons
between such world leaders
as Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.; Mohandas Gandhi, the
leader of Indian independ
ence; and Gamal Abdel
Nasser, Egyptian president
and statesman. 1 wanted the
students to know that the
civil rights movement
began with the African
American people of the
South. The students were
interested and attentive, as
was my professor; they
respected me for my knowl
edge and dignity, and there
fore gained respect for my
people. I encouraged the
students to seek a better
understanding of African
American people and our
history and who we really
are, without relying on neg
ative images depicted in the
media. I received an "A" in
the course.
My experiences in Dubai
were so challenging that I
needed time to process the
educational benefit once I
returned to the United
States.
This article gives me a
chance for reflection. I feel
proud of myself for turning
what could have been a
negative experience into a
positive one. I learned to
negotiate and stand up for
myself among strangers,
alone in another part of the
world. 1 feel empowered by
my strength in overcoming
adversity through my faith
in God and by conveying
the dignity of my people
that my parents instilled in
me.
The power to change
attitudes and minds is
important to me. I have
decided to make it my life's
work.
Brittney L. Huntley is a
junior at the University of
Cincinnati, majoring in inter
national affairs. She originally
wrote this article for The
Black Collegian magazine.
Step your game up — BET: Bad Ethnic Television
Steven J. Gaither
SPORTS EDITOR
Twenty-six years ago, a young
black businessman from
Washington, D.C., named Robert
Johnson bought airtime at a local sta
tion.
It was from those meager begin
nings that America's first black-
owned and oriented network. Black
Entertainment Television, emerged.
Starting a year before MTV,
Johnson's network was ground
breaking.
Today, however, that ground has
sunken to a new low.
In the past few years, BET has put
less emphasis on uplifting and edu
cational programs, and more empha
sis on music videos and reality
shows. In the past, shows such as
"Teen Summit" and "BET News"
focused on serious issues affecting
the black community.
Today, the network relies heavily
on music videos. On a typical day, as
much as one-third of the program
ming is dedicated to music videos
on BET. Many of these music videos
center around scantily clad African-
American women, gyrating in front
of the camera. And they are shown
on the network over, and over again.
Another trend that the network
has moved toward in recent years is
the increased production of reality
shows. The problem is not so much
with the reality shows themselves, as
it is with their content. This season
the network added the weekly series
"Beef" to its programming. The
show, which began as a bootleg
DVD, centers on conflicts, or "beefs,"
between celebrities.
Why would the network spend
programming time on a show that
centers on such negative themes?
Marilyn Roseboro, associate pro
fessor of Mass Communications at
Winston-Salem State, says that she
finds the content on BET "offensive,
both personally and professionally."
I could not agree more. With the
majority of the other networks'
reinforcing negative stereotypes
about African-Americans, you
would think that BET would do
its best to present a more well-
rounded image of black people. BET,
which Johnson sold to Viacom in
2000, has failed us in this regard,
choosing to sacrifice integrity for
ratings.
Like it or not, BET has a responsi
bility to African-Americans, no mat
ter who is in charge. I'm not saying
that it needs to become a black PBS,
but it shouldn't be a minstrel show,
either.
"I'd like to see balance," Roseboro
said. "When that's all you give, the
audience either goes away or
embraces that."
Step your game up, BET, and give
us a reason to tune in. Black people
are more than Neanderthals that
love to dance and fight amongst
themselves.
The News Argus
The Student Newspaper of Winston-Salem State University
Editor-in-Chief
Erin C. Perkins
Managing Editor
Tiphane Deas
News Editor
Tamika Green
Sports Editor Advertising Manager Columnist
Steven J. Gaither Patricia Commander La'Chelle Lewis
Photo Editor
Sharrod Patterson
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