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FinalCall.com News
National News
Black women ‘dogged’ by MTV
By Regan Toomer
Philadelphia Tribune
Updated Sep 6, 2006 - 8:18:00 PM
PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) - Some Black professionals in the media industry are outraged over the MTV2 network’s airing of a cartoon that depicts Black women being led around on leashes.
They said they are also appalled that MTV, a network whose president is a Black woman, would air the controversial cartoon.
The incident, which spurred instant criticism, was from the show “Where My Dogs At?”
In one episode, aired in the early afternoon, there was an appearance by a cartoon version of rapper Snoop Dogg accompanied by two bikini-clad Black women in neck collars and chains. The cartoon continued with Snoop Dogg strolling into a pet shop with the women, who hunch over on all fours and scratch themselves as he orders one of them to “hand me my latte.” At the end of the cartoon segment, the Snoop Dogg character dons a rubber glove to clean up excrement left on the floor by one of the women.
“I thought the cartoon was tasteless and immature,” said National Association of Black Journalists President Bryan Monroe. “MTV should be embarrassed to have even considered showing such images, particularly in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. What were they thinking?”
Damon Roberts is the chairman of the Social Action Committee in the city. The group recently protested against Power 99 FM’s airing of the former “Star and Buc Wild Morning Show.” Mr. Roberts called the MTV incident a crisis.
“This is a time of crisis in the Black community,” he insisted. “When Black on Black crime is at its highest peak, we have to be vigilant in confronting degrading images about Black people, especially when it is shown to Black children.
“By having famous Black people in the forefront, some corporate entities think that they will get a free pass about how they depict African American women,” he said. “Well, Snoop doesn’t get a free pass and neither does MTV. We believe in free speech, but it has to be tempered by responsibility. There’s no excuse for this portrayal.”
Network officials said the episode, called “Woofie Loves Snoop,” which first aired on July 1, was a satire of an actual Snoop appearance where women were in collars and chains.
“We certainly do not condone Snoop’s actions and the goal was to take aim at that incident for its insensitivity and outrageousness,” MTV spokesman Jeff Castaneda recently said.
He went on to defend the cartoon by saying that the characters found the spoof degrading.
“Even one of the dogs, a main character on the show, states, ‘I find that degrading and I am a dog,’” Mr. Castaneda said.
The show recently completed its initial eight-episode run on the network and is created to appeal to teens by its 12:30 p.m. airtimes on Saturdays.
