BET will show videos regularly that feature scantily clad women, hyper-sexual content or young black males who rap about killing and drug-dealing. But the network recently banned Killer Mike’s socially conscious video for “Burn.”
In the video, stock clips of police protests and riots are shown. There also are clips of Martin Luther King Jr., President Barack Obama and the Black Panthers.
Mike raps, “The cop wrote a letter apologizing to Oscar [Grant], they say I’m wrong cause I still say drop’em, police in the ghetto is killing n****s daily, but when we get to busting back they say that we’re crazy, prisons are overcrowded and the schools are too, because they undereducated you and got a place for you, n****s go to prison–the new age slavery, now you understand why they undereducate your baby.”
“Burn” was released during a time when unjust police killings continue to occur across the nation. On July 10, retired NFL player Deacon Turner was killed by a police officer in front of his son in Bakersfield, Calif. On July 16, a San Francisco teen was murdered by police for not paying bus fare.
[UPDATE] BET recently released this statement. “Thanks to the power of Twitter, BET has reassessed Killer Mike’s ‘Burn’ video and has decided to accept the video for BET Networks. If we decide to air the video on 106 & Park, we will have a conversation and discuss the issues presented in the video.”
Does Killer Mike’s “Burn” incite violence, or has BET catered to negative black images while condemning an artist for taking a social stance? –amir shaw
Check out Killer Mike’s ‘Burn.’
