Enough Is Enough!
If I hear about one more state assembly issuing an apology for slavery, I just might throw up all over my blue and white striped lounging pants and cool blue hoodie I bought myself for Christmas.
Long-time readers are keenly aware of what I think about so-called slavery apologies.
An apology for slavery would make sense under this scenario, and under no other: former slavemasters and those complicit in the government at the time apologizing directly to the former slaves for keeping them in bondage.
Other than that, keep your stinkin’ apology and get on with real business. Here’s what you can apologize for, Mr. Government: for taxing the heck out of me, followed up with the concrete action of lowering my taxes and allowing me to keep more of the money I earn.
Enough Is Enough! Part II
Now this is something I can support. A group of people fed up with nasty depictions of black men and women on channels like Black Entertainment Television (BET) started a campaign called Enough Is Enough, led by Reverend Delman Coates, to protest against these negative images and lyrics. This is what the group wants. More from the site (emphasis added):
The campaign contends that music companies do not equitably apply standards for lyrical content that is offensive to blacks as for other groups. Likewise, many American corporations have different standards for sponsoring artists whose music is offensive to blacks than they do for material that is offensive to other groups. That is, many American corporations sponsor, through endorsements and advertising on radio and television outlets, artists who promote negative messages about black people, but would not provide such sponsorship for artists who degrade other interest groups.
That’s a pretty serious charge. This Saturday (January 12), the group will gather outside the New York City home of Philippe P. Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom, which owns BET. On that same day, others will rally outside the Warner Theater in DC to protest THE BET HONORS. Hey, I might join them. It would make a great story.
Apologies for slavery are an abject waste of time. Speaking out against the atrociously scandalous BET is a public service. So many people sit around privately complaining about what they don’t like. Reverend Coates and the campaign’s supporters are doing something. Show your support!
I’m joining NPR’s Bloggers Roundtable this afternoon, and these are two of the topics. I wanted to talk about the Washington Post/RIAA thing, but since it is a segment about black topics, I guess it doesn’t fit. Oh, well. 
Update: Listen to the segment here. We didn’t get to the apology for slavery thing, darn it. I really wanted to talk about that. That’s me at the end of the segment interjecting about BET’s religious programming.
I was on with Debra Dickerson and blogger Wayne Hicks. I met Dickerson, author of The End of Blackness, back in 2004 at a Cato book forum.
