Remember the days when Urban radio stood up to this type of injustice? Cathy Hughes? Clear Channel? Tom Joyner, Steve Harvey, Michael Baisden where are you? It was great you guys helped get President Obama IN the White House but our job, obviously, does not stop there…
If you have been black long enough in this country you KNOW when you are around a racist. They don’t have to say a word, it’s the woman who holds her purse tighter when you walk past her or the white couple who don’t respond when you speak or the corporate executive who MIGHT hire you but with a glass ceiling in place and only long enough to find out how how black people think so that he can grow his business. The absolute WORST kind of racist is the one who ACTS like everybody else is one. I’m talking about Glen Beck. If Glen walked into a room full of black people he would probably pass out from the stress. It is BEYOND evident that this man is a racist but how convenient to point the finger at President Obama to steer the attention away from himself. Unfortunately, the plan has backfired.. or has it? ColorofChange.org a black non profit organization against racism has managed to get over 30 advertisers to pull their spots from Beck’s show on Fox. Significant? Yes and no. Yes because the remaining advertisers are going to be hard pressed to explain why THEY are still supporting his show and no because the sponsors have mostly shifted their spots to other shows on the network which translates to very little money lost. One brand which is HUGE in black households, Clorox, has stated they will no longer advertise on inflammatory conservative talk shows like Beck’s. Other advertisers who have pulled their spots from Beck include Walmart, CVS Caremark and Sprint more brands that are very popular in the black community. Beck has seen the highest ratings yet before his recent vacation and unfortunately in the world of TV that means something but it also means there is a growing group of people believing Beck’s concocted theories and fear-based assumptions and that is DANGEROUS! Beck is CLEARLY out to get ratings and so is Fox but what kind of nut cases is he appealing to?
When Beck called Obama a racist it was the statement that had gone too far. Some Beck supporters responded by saying what about when the rap community called Bush a racist? Why wasn’t that such a big deal? Mostly because it appeared to be true. Bush was not prepared to handle the tragedy in New Orleans left by Hurricane Katrina and as a RESULT of how the, mostly black, people were treated afterwards helped to form that opinion. Also, rappers do not have a huge news network to DRILL their negative views of Bush into the heads of Americans each night. Obama is very appealing to Beck and Fox News they are skirting AROUND the issue but the attacks are almost purely based on the fact that he is a black president. Beck is appealing to what was once a small group of staunch racists who were in total shock that Obama even got elected in the first place. That group is growing as Beck’s campaign to destroy Obama grows. It’s not enough for a sponsor to pull their ads from Beck’s show, it doesn’t hurt the network, the spots need to be pulled from the entire network THAT hurts the network. There needs to be a full head on campaign to have that show removed but every black news outlet and as many entertainers as possible. Beck would scream his right to free speech is being invaded but when is the line drawn between free speech and an undercover KKK rally. Beck called President Obama a deep seated racist but isn’t that exactly what Glen Beck is.
The only thing I remember about mask term “urban radio” is mindless boogie and ghetto fabulous passed off as american black culture during the decade of the 1990’s that continues to fester today, what I do remember is somthing once called and known as “Black radio” Have you ever read or saw Cathy Hughes stand up when the issue is about race or unfair business pratices she faces everyday playing to a system that plays her? yes bad boy michael baisden had a faithful moment 2 years ago with the jeno 6, but it was a “moment” now it’s back to the boogie for Mr. Baisden, Tom Joyner is trying to make sure he and Cathy can some how manage to stay afloat amid mounting debt that will eventually bring radio one down as we presently know them to be, You gotta understand somthing about those names mentioned, yes there may of been a time tom joyner would of stood up, but the history shows cathy hughes and michael baisden in a different light, what all those names have in common today is that they play in a corporate radio culture, and many of us in the black community need to see that and understand that for what it is, and be very careful when we champion them without questioning them also. That’s my definition of todays urban radio, and that saga will continue…. you don’t make change by being quiet playing in a system or industry that fails you, you make change by challeging and fighting the system, somthing many have lost and that history shows is the way you make progress in america.
First, this is why we should stand against people who teach and preach racism no matter who it is against. For the past few years, Glenn Beck has been preaching racism against everything who is not white and Christian. Now, that it has hit one of the African-Americans favorites, then everyone starts hollering. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are two of the most racist radio host that I know of. As a matter of fact, the who FOX network is nothing but undercover KKK. I live in Canada, and am deeply ashamed to be called an America. On tv, they make us look so ignorant and stupid compared to the rest of the world. I am not saying that Canada is a perfect country by no means, but the people are definitely not half as ignorant as the Americans.
Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O’Riley, lets not forget Lou Dobbs, are definitely some of the most racist Americans that I know. Its about time that African-Americans joined others in trying to fight these people. See, what goes around does come around. Lets start standing against these racist people no matter whether it is Blacks, Arabs, Latinas, etc. Racism is wrong, no matter who it is against.
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