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NBC has taken considerable flack for its censorship of Grammy award-winning R&B star Kanye West on "A Concert for Hurricane Relief." Specifically, NBC deleted the following statement from the musician during the West Coast feed: "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
Ironically, by censoring it, NBC only brought more attention to the statement, and the network itself.
Most telethons are paint-by-numbers affairs -- orchestrated and planned methodically. Thus, we understand the organizers' uneasiness. Likewise, we realize the concert wasn't a political forum. Nonetheless, we think West's comments were one of the few real moments in the telecast. We aren't saying West is right or wrong. That's not the argument here. We're upset that NBC didn't let one of the most culturally and racially diverse cities in the US decide for itself. If the goal of the concert was truly to get people to care about the catastrophe, who's to say that his words wouldn't speak to a large segment of the population?
Angelenos can deal with seeing a taped show. But we can't deal with network executives sheltering us from something that at least 50% of prime time viewers already saw. NBC could have easily covered their bases by either bleeping West, or airing a brief disclaimer at the beginning of the broadcast explaining that the views expressed did not represent NBC [or its affiliates]. If they'd taken either action, the focus would be on West, not the Peacock.
That being said, this post doesn't necessarily represent the entire LAist staff. But it hopefully does speak for the many journalists and mature Angelenos who don't agree with censorship.
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Original West photo courtesy of Jim Cooper.
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It represents this member of the LAist staff just fine. I think probably the networks get a lot of angry calls from people who don't want to hear anything controversial, so it's important for them to know that some of us do want to hear what was said, and that, yes, we can distinguish between the point of view of someone appearing on a network and of the network management.
You can still catch the unedited version on replay on CNBC.
I think NBC made a few missteps...moving too quickly on a benefit that wasn't a coordinated effort amongst all broadcasters; making it a de facto promotional piece for NBC rather than just a fund raiser; and giving artists and entertainers a forum to speak but not granting them the open freedom to say what they wanted.
And, regardless of the words Kanye used, the sentiment is spot on. Whether we're talking about the president or all of America, the vast majority of us who are better off have turned a blind eye to poverty, class and the problems of race in our country and, like Kanye, we're able to fill our lives with consumerism and materialism rather than look at what is really going on with the disadvantaged.
President Bush has a lot of work to do right now...but we all have a lot of work to do so that the same kinds of people that got left in New Orleans that live all across this country aren't forgotten again.
What do I tell my six year old daughter when she asks why people are still there? She doesn't ask why are the poor people still there, or the black people, just people. But what are we adults left to think? These Americans don't seem to matter to our government
It's bullshit for the President to say that nobody foresaw the levees being breached, I read about the risks to New Orleans on the Thursday before Katrina hit. FIMA warned the administration of the risk to New Orleans months ago.
Cuba has successfully evacuated as many as two million people (Ivan) with near zero casualties time and again. If Cuba can do it, why couldn't we?
Kanye's passionate words sum up what a lot of us are feeling.
As the shrill republican filibusterers disguised in TV-commentator's-clothing, try to turn the giant media machines away from reporting on the tragic lack of evacuation and quick response, and toward feel-good images and the politicians' sound bites, Kanye West made a statement in a forum that has played repeatedly. And it should play repeatedly! We should never ever forget or forgive our government's lack of caring.
I disagree with hypocritical politician's of both parties, but I've never been ashamed of being an American. Well I am now. This is like our government sitting on the side of the road watching Emmit Till being beaten and tossed in the waters, and doing nothing to stop it!
I can only hope that this is a tipping point toward a movement that demands our government act as it's brothers keeper, be they rich or poor, black or white. As the dismantling of the FDR's New Deal, and Johnson's Great Society pushes forward, what we need most is another leader with a grand vision of a just society, and the political will to get it done.