The Anti-Obama BET Ad: My Take: Another Conversation About Race

The only Black Television Station(BET) airing an ad against the first African American president may be a huge slap in the face for Black America. President Obama has been overwhelmingly supported by black voters. The network was used as a ploy to steer voters.

African Americans exemplified tremendous strength and mobility in 2008 election. So therefore, BET has been utilized as an attempt to split up the black vote in the 2012 election. Yet this so called Black Network is no longer in the hands of its black founder. He has no input or say so, in the direction of the company. Robert Johnson doesn't even sit on the board of its corporate owner, Viacom. Out of its 11 board members, there appears to be one black person sitting, a Mr. Charles E. Phillips.(1) It should be obvious that the station has moved passed any sort of special interest of African Americans, and may have some sort of different agenda, for the remainder of its black viewers. African Americans have been pulling away in viewership hence its previous owner's sell of the company.

The anti-Obama ad is backed by the Super-PAC group called Pivot-Point,  which has had tremendous air time on BET. The website is saturated with white supporters for Mitt Romney. There appears to be an obvious shortage of black folks on the site. Since we are making this about race, we should at least point that out. Apparently the Super-PAC is in the hands of a white founder. Go figure.

This new ad is misleading and deceiving. It states that Obama cuts funds for black colleges, black businesses and support same sex marriages.

Obama has slashed funding for black colleges for the 2010 fiscal year. But for 2011, he provided a 30 million funding increase. (2)

"For the fiscal year that will begin on Oct. 1, Obama proposes $279.9 million for historically black colleges and universities — $30 million more than he proposed for fiscal 2010 and $13 million more than Congress appropriated, according to the United Negro College Fund. Including other minority-oriented educational institutions,..."

The accusation regarding black businesses is not only misleading but just not true. "President Obama has cut taxes for small businesses no fewer than eight times, and at President Obama’s direction the SBA has already administered more than 70,000 loans for businesses, providing those businesses with the capital they need to invest and grow". 

More importantly, "he has cut taxes 18 times for small business owners, made it easier for small business people to adhere to rules and regulations and shortened the time it would take for them to get paid by the federal government".  However, Black businesses do face problems of discrimination and barriers still, which has prevented them access to financing.

President Obama intended to stand by fairness in regards to same sex marriages. His announcement for his support of these unions was a bold and courageous move, especially since the previous Democratic president defined marriage as being between a man and woman, in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). After all, unfair legislation has been standing in the way of human beings having the ability to marry, who they want to marry. It has proven to be frivolous and unfair to hard working Americans and their families. How same-sex marriages could be turn into an issue about race, is simply beyond me. Pivot Point does know that there are gay and lesbian blacks, don't they? Obama's opponent has not proposed any legislation that would benefit minorities or black communities. He proposes a 5% cut on discretionary spending. Meanwhile, education is also a central theme in Obama’s 2013 budget proposal, which requested $69.8 billion in discretionary spending for the US Department of Education, a 2.5 percent increase. As far as Romney's proposal for businesses, the numbers don't even add up. No one knows. No one has a clue what Mitt Romney's plan will do.We shall all be thrilled when this buffoonery of a race is over. At least the lies and deception would possibly be on simmer. Well...just maybe.

This is a conversation about race, in honor of the Race 2012 documentary on PBS. You can watch online right now @ http://race2012pbs.org/watch-online/ .

 Follow the Race 2012 Bloggers Project and read other opinions @  http://race2012pbs.org/election/blog-page/ .

Make sure you check out the Machine behind the exciting blogging project, Monica Medina at http://monicastangledweb.com/ .

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 A Conversation about Race is important!

Sources: 
(1) http://www.viacom.com/aboutviacom/Pages/boardofdirectors.aspx) 
(2)(http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/02/04/83732/obama-boosts-funds-for-historically.html)