#WHOISSTACEYDASH

          I have never seen Clueless or any of the other spinoff shows.  So when I first watched the interview on Fox with Stacey Dash, my query as to who she is was completely legitimate.  In fact, I wouldn't have cared about a video from Fox News, but a "friend" on Facebook posted it in support.  To be fair, I do believe in the spirit of Stacey Dash's comments.  Black people can no longer rage against societal injustice yet continue to be a part of the problem.  However, I emphatically disagree with her misunderstanding of where blacks have forged a space in society and where blacks are still fighting for it.  As I watched it, I felt an overwhelming sense of frustration and then fatigue.  I felt tired that once again someone would say something so ignorant, once again the firestorm of petty race-related issues would begin, and once again I would feel obligated to explain to yet another well-meaning person why we still have BET and Black History Month.  I knew the argument would devolve into "why can't we get over what happened in the past," and "why can't we just be one country and all get along and stop fighting." But I tried anyway, and for the sake of one person who truly wants to understand, here I will try again.  (If you haven't seen the video, you can watch at the bottom.)

1. Why BET
          BET was created out of necessity, and it is a necessity that still exists to a certain degree.  Shows and movies with a predominately black cast are still thought of "black entertainment" while shows and movies with predominately white casts are simply entertainment.   The idea persists that "black shows" will not appeal to mainstream audiences, and although more common, shows with black leads are still the minority.  The idea that blacks seek special treatment because they have "their own channel and whites don't" fails to understand how white culture has been largely appropriated as American culture while black culture is often a sub-culture.  Think about hair care commercials on a given channel during the prime time for TV shows (ABC, FOX, NBC, CW).  Most of them are not geared toward black women.  It is in recent years that makeup commercials have even included women with dark complexions.  Black women probably spend more on hair care than white women, but commercials about "ethnic" hair care aren't on these channels.  So is it because blacks aren't watching these channels, and if that is the case, shouldn't we be asking why not instead of asking why we still have BET?  BET makes a space for them where there wasn't before, and those who argue that there is no longer a need for a channel for Black entertainment fail to see that there is a limited space in the mainstream for it now.

2. Why Black History Month
          Recently, Texas textbooks came under fire because the author referred to slaves as "workers" and referred to the kidnapping and subsequent enslavement of Africans as a "pattern of migration."  In light of this and other claims of textbooks omitting the history of Jim Crow south, segregation, and the Civil Rights movement from history books, it's a wonder to me why people question the necessity and the importance of Black History month.  I wonder, what is so threatening about one month (the shortest month) that recognizes the accomplishments of Black people in America?  What is so scary about a month that remembers how a people who were brought to this country as slaves became people who influenced and shaped the fabric of American society in many different ways? It is a dangerous assumption that black history is American history that is adequately explored and taught in schools throughout the country. I truly don't understand the call for this to end.

          In my experience, arguing about race-related issues is always a funny thing.  No matter how you explain and what points you bring up, people usually jump to the utopian conclusion that if we just get along and stop talking about race every time something comes up, we could truly get past this race problem.  After all, they say, the race issue is created by the media anyway.  And in a way, they have a point.  The media does have a habit of reporting controversial or overly sensationalized versions of the news because that is how they get and keep their audience.  But to simplify a complicated issue such as race relations to just the imagination of the media is not only extremely offensive but also ignorant. To tell a group that already feels marginalized and ignored that their opinions or grievances have been created for them is to pour gasoline on a fire.  And more importantly, it shows a lack of understanding.  In my argument on Facebook, the recurring theme was that my friend couldn't understand this or didn't understand that, but the real problem was that he was unwilling to understand, and that is the biggest problem of all.