All Hail Bob Johnson

By Keith Boykin, in pop culture·sports
Wednesday, December 18 2002, 6:00AM

The contrast could not have been more obvious.

Just days after I learned that BET's new white owner, Viacom, had dropped three of the network's most socially responsible programs, last night I heard that BET founder Bob Johnson has been approved to buy an NBA team. Johnson will purchase the new Charlotte expansion team and become the first black owner in the league.

I'm sorry but I refuse to cheer. I'm convinced that Bob Johnson cares far more about Bob Johnson than about black people, so why should I care if Bob Johnson owns a basketball team?

What Johnson did as owner of Black Entertainment TV was to air a steady stream of mindless, degrading music videos, comic shows and infomercials playing to the lowest common denominator in black "entertainment." He squandered an opportunity to help uplift a race of people as he amassed billions of dollars in new capital for his own personal fortune.

BET's History

In 1980, Johnson leveraged a $15,000 personal investment and $500,000 from cable magnate John Malone of TCI to launch BET in the early days of cable. The network only aired three hours a week on Friday nights, but by October 1984 it became a 24-hour-a-day operation. Johnson took the company public in 1991 and then in 1998 bought back 6 million shares of BET Holdings Inc. Two years later, Viacom paid $2.87 billion for BET, and Johnson got a five-year contract to continue running the network and $1.6 billion in cash and stocks.

In response to the criticism about selling a black TV network to a white media conglomerate, Johnson replied, "The idea of 100 percent black-owned anything is not only unlikely, there's no rationale for it." (I doubt he ever said that when he was trying to raise money as a minority-owned business.)

Of course, not every black millionaire or billionaire will be socially conscious. One need only look at many of the professional athletes and celebrity entertainers to see this. But they usually don't bill themselves as spokespeople for the race. BET, on the other hand, invited its audience to view its progress as the progress of all blacks.

BET's programming

Today, however, BET has essentially become ET, says George Curry. It's simply "empty television" now. When asked about the degrading images in BET's video programming two years ago, Johnson said, "I don't create this stuff. I just play it." But what's the point of ownership if there's no sense of responsibility that comes along with it?

Although Bob Johnson reportedly cared about the public interest programming on his network, it's abundantly clear that what he cares about most is money.

That's why he sold BET to Viacom in the first place. That's why he supported President Bush's tax cuts. That's why he assembled a group of black millionaires to fight for the repeal of the inheritance tax. And that's why he served on President Bush's commission that recommended privatizing social security.

BET's labor issues

In May 2000, BET made the AFL-CIO's list of notorious anti-union companies, and the year before, 120 comedians, including Richard Pryor, bought full-page newspaper advertisements to complain that Johnson refused to offer union wages to performers on its "Comic View" show. Three years before that, Johnson was reprimanded by the National Labor Relations Board for BET's interference with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' organizing efforts, a case that BET later appealed and won. But in February 2000, Johnson told USA Today, "We don't need a union. They're only money-making machines."

On March 23, 2001, Johnson fired Tavis Smiley after Smiley conducted a single special interview for a rival network, ABC. At the time, Johnson insisted the decision was his, not Viacom's. "Mel Karmazin had absolutely nothing to do with the decision. I make too much money to be a frontman. I have more stock in Viacom than anybody other than Sumner Redstone. This was my decision."

Smiley fired back: "I then find it curious that Mr. Johnson would move to dismiss me for selling one interview in five years to another network, when BET refused to broadcast either one of our historic black think-tank symposiums which so many watched on C-Span."

BET's news

This is where Johnson runs into trouble. Johnson said, "The African-American community could be better off with BET Tonight continuing and Tavis having a new show on another network." Here again we see Johnson portraying BET as something more than an entertainment vessel for black rappers. Johnson hasn't told us how the African American community will be served now that Viacom has canceled "BET Tonight."

Back in 1985, Johnson told the Washington Post that BET would provide news for black people. "When there's an important political issue that affects all Americans, why shouldn't black Americans have a chance to hear what black congressmen think of it instead of constantly hearing what white Congress members think of how it affects their constituents? . . . There's so much news about blacks that doesn't get out to the rest of the country . . . BET is in a position to be a pioneer in black-oriented news."

In the recent controversy over Trent Lott's support of Strom Thurmond, Lott reportedly sought counsel from Bob Johnson. That's great for Lott and Johnson, but I'm not sure that helps black people. BET landed an interview with Trent Lott, but now BET is canceling the program that aired the interview.

Bob Johnson's money

In many ways, Johnson reminds me of the character Davis McClinton in E. Lynn Harris's novel, A Love Of My Own. With homes in Paris, The Hamptons, Telluride and Miami, McClinton's life was vastly different from nearly all African Americans, or for that matter, from nearly all Americans. As a super wealthy black media mogul, the establishment looked to him as a leader of the race, but all he really cared about was money.

Bob Johnson has a lot of money. Forbes magazine put Johnson's wealth at $1.3 billion in an estimate made earlier this year, making him 149 on the magazine's list of richest Americans. He's also considered to be the richest black man in America.

Again, it's okay to care about money. I want black people to make money. But it's not okay to make money under the guise of helping the black community when you're really making money to help yourself.

Two years ago, Bob Johnson wanted to become the first black owner of a major airline, DC Air, but that dream seemed to die when the airline industry crashed on September 11. Now Johnson wants to become a sports mogul. That's fine.

Let Bob Johnson buy the Charlotte team. Let him buy all the professional sports teams he wants. But don't expect me to buy the BS that Bob Johnson cares about blacks.

© Copyright 2002 by Keith Boykin.