It was always frustrating as hell to me, during my short-lived social services career (post journalist and roughly coinciding with my firefighting and EMT career, but definitely pre-culinary) to see the black kids with whom I worked watching that garbage. A number of times I'd initiate discussion about the content of the crap on BET and ask them about its relevance to their lives. In short, it was fantasy material, but that didn't make it any more palatable. These were the same kids I couldn't convince not to call each other "nigger".

"It's demeaning to you and everyone around you," I'd tell them. They'd laugh at the old white guy and keep it going.