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Why There is a BET and There isn’t a WET
Published by rachels | Filed under 101, Common Myths, Media, Portraying Race, Privilege, Racism and White Supremacy, Whiteness
Editor’s Note: I need to do a second proofreading since it’s really late, and I had to retype this three times. Please bare with me.
Nearly every semester, I get this comment, “Professor, why is there a Black Entertainment Television when there is no White Entertainment Television? They would say it is racist if we had WET, so why can they have BET?” There are other variants of this question, such as: ”Why are there historically black colleges and not historically white colleges?” “Why is there an NAACP and no NAAWP?” “Why is there a minority scholarship, but no white scholarship?” “Why is there an Asian/Black/Latino student’s center and no White student’s center?” I’m sure most of my readers have heard one or more of these questions, but for some reason, the BET question is the most common way this sentiment is expressed. The comment comes up so often that I have a set of canned answers ready for when it comes up. It is significant because it is indicative of many of the elements of contemporary racism–colorblindness, the normativity of whiteness, and the invisiblility of power inequalities in social institutions.(See Footnote 1) When I answer this question, I attempt to challenge students to think outside of the confines of contemporary racial ideology and whiteness.
My first reaction to the BET question is to reject the premise of the question. I tell students that there are many channels that are White Entertainment Television–they are called NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, the Home and Garden Channel, TLC, etc. At this point, many of the students of color laugh (as do a few white students), but most of the white students have a look of puzzlement. Then someone usually says, but those channels have black people on them too. I respond by telling them that there are white people on BET. At this point, I also take the time to explain how most shows on the white oriented channels have predominantly white casts. It usually helps to give examples of shows like Friends, The Hills, and Everybody Loves Raymond, where all of the main characters are white. I also explain that there are very few predominantly black (Asian, Latino, or American Indian) shows. I often have students of color who explain how or why certain shows or networks don’t appeal to them, which helps drive home the point.
Many whites don’t notice whiteness, so this is a good opportunity to talk about how whiteness is often unmarked and invisible. Schools, neighborhoods, churches, fraternities, and other groups and organizations that are create for whites are not marked as such. Part of the reason we don’t call our groups white is that we don’t even realize that these groups are catering to us. Part of being white means not having to think about whiteness and the opportunities it grants. In fact, even thinking about whiteness makes many of whites uncomfortable, which is why the reaction to BET is so strong. There is a knee jerk reaction that says “calling something white is wrong so calling something black is wrong.” But what my white students don’t realize is that what is more offense than calling something white is excluding people of color (whether it is intentional or not). They are oblivious to how the groups they are part of operate to exclude people of color. On the other hand, they don’t realize that most groups that are labeled black don’t exclude whites; they incorrectly think that whites can’t join black fraternities or sororities or go to historically black colleges, which just isn’t the case. (See Footnote 2) At the same time, they don’t realize that the groups they are part of are not doing much if anything to appeal to people of color.
The BET question also gives us the opportunity to talk about the psychology of being in the minority or the majority. It is difficult for many whites to imagine how being outnumbered and ignored affects people of color, so I try to make students think about how predominantly white programs dominate. This makes it difficult for people of color to find role models and realistic reflections of their lives. I tell them that the feeling that they have of being left out when they wonder why there is a BET, is something that people of color in this country deal with every day. I ask them to imagine how they would feel if they were the only white person or one of a few white people in our class. I explain that since the dominant culture’s views are everywhere people of color have to learn the norms and rules of whites in order to get by, but whites don’t have to understand what it means to be black (Asian, Latino, American Indian, Middle Eastern) to function in this society. ((I often make a joke about an insider stereotype that many blacks have of whites–white people’s hair smells like a dog when it is wet. I ask how many of my students have heard of this. Usually, the only students who have heard it are black. Many students laugh because this stereotype seems absurd. Then, I say, “How many of you have heard the stereotype that blacks are violent and crime prone?” Almost all the students raise their hands, and nobody laughs. I make the case that the first one is humorous to them because it really doesn’t have an impact on the day to day lives of whites, but the crime stereotype isn’t funny because it has a profound impact on blacks.))
This question allows us to discuss the historical dimensions of discrimination. Many black groups and organizations have been formed because blacks were not allowed to be part of white organizations. So we have historically black colleges and universities because white schools did not allows blacks to enroll. When I note this, some students will say that black organizations should have been disbanded with the end of legal segregation. The problem with that view is that discrimination didn’t end with the change in laws; moreover, using that same logic white segregated schools should also have disbanded. If we never had racism, I suppose there wouldn’t be any BET. We would not even refer to people by their skin color, but there was and is racial discrimination, so we can pretend color doesn’t matter.
By this point, I’ll still have a few people that don’t understand, and really feel that there shouldn’t be any BET at all. Then, I tell them that BET is currently owned by whites. This seems to delight some of the more prejudiced students, but it throws others off because they don’t realize how many whites are profiting off BET, and damn near every other black oriented form of entertainment.
So next time someone asks, why is there a BET and no WET, you can give a long treatise explaining why.
1. The normativity of whiteness refers to the idea that whiteness is viewed normal, unremarkable, and often invisible. Moreover, this concept reflects the idea that whiteness is both the standard of comparison for other racial groups and the category to which people should aspire.
2. There are indeed some organizations that cater to people of color, which exclude whites, but they are quite rare, and obviously BET doesn’t not have any no whites rule.
August 27th, 2007 at 2:46 am [...] Ally Work: Why There Is A BET, And There Isn’t A WET Part of the reason we don’t call our groups white is that we don’t even realize that these groups are catering to us. Part of being white means not having to think about whiteness and the opportunities it grants. In fact, even thinking about whiteness makes many of whites uncomfortable, which is why the reaction to BET is so strong. [...]
August 27th, 2007 at 10:25 am When I was a junior in high school this exact question came up from a white student in my English class after he got pissed that Langston Hughes could express how proud he was to be black, but white poets could not. I was in an advanced course so I was the only black student in the class and the teacher was also white. Needless to say, the conversation went nowhere! In fact, for an entire hour the students railed against me and black people for using reverse racism for gain. In fact, my teacher made them even madder by saying, "Jennifer would get into Harvard before any of you." At that point I had been going to school with all of these students for years and thought they were my friends. That day, I realized they weren't. That day changed my life forever.
August 27th, 2007 at 11:10 am Jennifer, I can't even imagine how uncomfortable that must have been. The teacher obviously handled it poorly. I think many educators really don't know how to handle these kinds of issues even if they don't agree with the sentiment.
August 27th, 2007 at 1:04 pm The fact that these young people are asking (what I consider to be) very obvious questions is very disturbing and shows a very low consciousness. I don't think I've ever seen a black person on a popular show like FRIENDS--have THEY? Or do such things just NEVER occur to them? If not--gahhh!!!!!
Next they are going to say "Why is there Bravo and gay TV shows when there aren't (cough!) straight shows?" Honestly, it sounds as dumb to me as that. Are you serious? (((bows head in shame)))
August 27th, 2007 at 2:33 pm Well, I guess I agree with most of this post. Maybe I'll just argue for that sake of throwing some more controversial examples.
1. "There are indeed some organizations that cater to people of color, which exclude whites, but they are quite rare.."
How about the Congressional Black Caucus that excluded the white representative (I think the Memphis area) that wanted to join even though his constituency was majority black. It seems a little shorted by the CBC, not that I think they do much anyways.
2. Here In Oakland the liberal city government gave over a million dollars to a racist cult called the Your Black Muslim Bakery. They made national news earlier this month for murdering a black journalist Chauncey Bailey, which actually is only a small part of the story. Do you think tax money should go to that type of organization assuming there not doing criminal activities?
August 27th, 2007 at 3:52 pm [...] post over at Ally Work about the lack of explicitly white-oriented institution relative to black-oriented ones, and how to [...]
August 27th, 2007 at 4:29 pm Anyone who has to ask this question is an idiot.
August 27th, 2007 at 4:32 pm I hereby request that you provide a similarly comprehensive answer to the #2 most dumbass question asked in a peevish manner on racial discussion threads:
"Where was all the outrage when the Wayans brothers dressed up in whiteface for that movie White Chicks?"
August 27th, 2007 at 7:33 pm Given demographic trends that indicate whites will be a minority in the U.S. in several decades, do you envision a shift in the way "whiteness" is viewed.
August 27th, 2007 at 8:36 pm thank you soooo much for posting this (yes i had to add all the oooos!)
i've heard these questions so many time; except most times they were in anger, charging reverse racism, and not out of simple curiousity.
you put everything into words so perfectly.
August 27th, 2007 at 10:55 pm yes, there have been visible minorities on the TV show "Friends"
1) Charlie who was black
2) Julie who was Asian
where are the white people in Fresh Prince of Belair, The Cosby show, George Lopez, etc....
August 27th, 2007 at 11:26 pm angela,
The point is not that there was not one single person of color ever on Friends but that the primary characters were white and the show focused on the experiences of those white characters.
Moreover, there were whites on two of the shows you mentioned (I have never watched George Lopez, so I can't comment on his show.). Cosby has many white characters who played non-leading roles. Remember the little chubby kid who was Rudy's friend. Adam Sandler played one of Theo's friends, and if you look at Cameo appearances there were whites. As for the Fresh Prince, I distinctly remember that several of the classmates of Will and Carlton were white.
You can't count minor characters of Friends and refuse to count minor characters from shows with predominantly black or Latino casts. That's a glaring double standard.
But really this is all besides the point. The point is that in totality the vast majority of TV networks reflect whites world views and experiences.
August 28th, 2007 at 7:37 pm [...] blogged recently about “Why There is a BET and There isn’t a WET“. Nearly every semester, I get this comment, “Professor, why is there a Black Entertainment [...]
August 29th, 2007 at 1:08 am [...] by Jack Stephens on August 28th, 2007 Rachels blogs about questions here students normally ask her on why is there a Black Entertainment Television and [...]
August 30th, 2007 at 6:18 pm This was great. Sometimes it's hard to respond to these types of questions without getting frustrated and emotional. This helps. It's amazing how many educated people say these sorts of things.
The examples from Friends listed above and others like it demonstrate how people of color are rarely central characters in network TV shows these days. It seems like some shows and movies just stick in a black (Asian, Indian, etc.) best friend or date, but these are not well developed characters who we get to know. The story usually focuses on the lives of the white characters.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:17 pm The first and most important attribute of any kind of societal privilege is the ability to be blissfully unaware of having it. You might want to have printouts available of the "White Privilege List" for these occasions (I don't have a link handy, but Google should bring it up easily); that would certainly spark some discussion along the same lines.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:33 am Wonderful article. Thank you for providing me with some more ammo next time my in-laws go on another one of their racist rants. (They don't consider themselves racist, but they are). They have complained about Black History Month, Latino studies, Black colleges, etc. I have tried conveying the same message you gave here, but you worded it better than I ever could have.
This part in particular was PERFECT:
"But what my white students don’t realize is that what is more offense than calling something white is excluding people of color (whether it is intentional or not). They are oblivious to how the groups they are part of operate to exclude people of color."
I have had some success in getting my in-laws to accept certain things (mainly science), by pointing out cognitive biases to them. When I make them aware of the various cognitive biases, and show them articles about how prevalent (and dangerous) cognitive biases and logical fallacies are, and how invisible they are to the people who hold them (all of us, to some extent), they become aware of their flawed thought patterns and that helps them to head those illogical patterns off at the pass. That last sentence of yours that I quoted, "They are oblivious to how the groups they are part of operate to exclude people of color" is one of the best things I have read on this subject. I think you really need to emphasize that, as I will be when talking to my in-laws. I will be pointing out to them that even though preferences for whites are right under their noses, they are oblivious to them.
I also loved how you pointed out that things that are not specified as catering to any one particular race really do cater to a specific race: whites. NBC doesn't say "white T.V., but it's white T.V. As are the other examples you mentioned. I think I can sum that up in one sentence: American society is white by default. If you want people of color to feel accepted, included, and that they are on equal footing with whites, you have to set up institutions specifically for them. Whites don't seem to understand this. Racists don't like for things to be specifically designed for non-whites, and neither do I. But we wish those institutions didn't exist for different reasons. The racist doesn't like the perception that non-whites are "favored" (oh, pleeeeeease!). I, on the other hand, wish these institutions didn't HAVE to exist (although I know that they do have to exist), and I despise the "white by default" mindset of our society.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:15 pm Technically BET was created before MTV, as a small one-hour program on another network; however, I think they were able to expand to their own channel as a counterpart to "WET", which in the very early 1980s was MTV. Previous to Michael Jackson appearing on MTV, there were virtually no other African American performers on the network. MTV was "white by default" in the beginning. I know I wasn't listening to Van Halen (loved Duran Duran, though).