Essay blasting reality shows’ portrayal of black Atlantans goes viral
Metro Atlanta native Kelly Smith Beaty, herself a former reality show personality, has gone viral with a sharply worded essay skewering how reality shows set in Atlanta portray African Americans.
The piece, titled “Will the Real Black People of Atlanta Please Stand Up?,” has claimed prime real estate on the Huffington Post site. It’s been “liked” more than 4,000 times on Facebook and generated hundreds of comments on Twitter and under the post itself.
An excerpt:
“How is it that a city which was once the crowning jewel in the story of black America has allowed itself to be positioned as the melting pot of black affliction? The Atlanta that I knew and grew up in was one of great pride and self-respect. Our achievements were known across the globe, as people from far and wide would often respond, ‘Wow, I hear that black people are really doing their thing down there,’ when I would tell them I’m from Atlanta. Today that assertion is often met with, ‘Yoooo….I hear Atlanta’s got them bangin’ strip clubs.’…Really?!?”
Without naming shows, she makes thinly veiled references to “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” and “Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta.”
“If you’d like to make a reality show about prominent housewives, I’d suggest doing a retrospective on the wife of Alonzo Herndon – a former slave turned businessman who went on to found the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, became the city’s largest black property owner by 1900, and made history as Atlanta’s first black millionaire,” Beaty wrote. “His first wife’s name was Adrienne Herndon and she was a teacher at Atlanta University.”
She also suggested a reality show called “Love and Hard Hats,” noting that “Herman J. Russell successfully built one of the nation’s most profitable minority-owned business empires whose construction and real estate projects include the famed Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the Georgia Dome, Phillips Arena, and Turner Field.”
Lovette Russell would love to meet Kelly Beaty. Photo credit: Jim Fitts
Beaty noted that “Lovette Twyman Russell, wife of the company’s current CEO, Michael Russell, is stylish, sassy, and savvy. I’ve never met her, but I’d bet she’s brimming with reality-worthy one-liners and sound bites.”
Russell told us that she started getting emails about the piece yesterday and had a chance to read it last night.
“Ms. Beaty sharply articulates the way most black Atlantans feel about how these reality shows portray us,” Russell said. “I was incredibly flattered by her remarks but even more impressed that she swiftly put pen to paper after watching such a degrading show. I would LOVE to meet her!”
In 2010, Beaty landed a spot on “The Apprentice.” (Here’s a link to an article my colleague Rodney Ho wrote about her at the time). Although she didn’t win, she said Donald Trump’s business oriented reality show was a good experience.
“Having been on ‘The Apprentice’ makes me interesting to some people so I get to have conversations that I may not have been able to before,” Beaty told the AJC. “I’m thankful for that. My life’s goal was never to be famous, but to be impactful, and slowly that is beginning to happen.”
A Spelman College alumnae who grew up in Fayetteville, Beaty now lives in New York and is vice president for marketing and communications for Dress for Success Worldwide, which provides professional attire and career help to disadvantaged women. She had no idea the response her piece would generate.
“At first it was mostly Atlantans saying, ‘Thank you for standing up for us.’ Now people who don’t even live in Atlanta are reaching out to me,” Beaty told us. “I’m definitely surprised by the response but I was literally just writing my frustrations. Apparently many people agree. Most people value decency, integrity, and pride and I think those who do, based on the responses, are ready to be heard.”
She wrote the piece after being fed up with how reality television portrays her hometown.
“People believe what they see on TV so to put Atlanta’s name on (such shows) is an affront to our city,” she said. “I don’t know what the laws are about usage of Atlanta’s name, but that should be illegal. It’s defamation.”
Beaty said she is working to relaunch a New York-based organization called Black Women for Black Girls, and keeps in touch with friends from home, including the head of an organization called Living Water for Girls, which serves girls who have been sexually abused or exploited.
“Much in this world that needs to changed so many causes that need to be championed,” Beaty said. “It’s a great privilege to help move what matters to me.”
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445 comments Add your comment
Kem
June 21st, 2012
5:03 pm
Native Atlantan,
So you know 4 black women. And these 4 black women represent what all black women think.
John
June 21st, 2012
5:04 pm
I am a educated black man raised in Atlanta and I find the portrayal of people in my city at total embarrassment.I chose not to associate with the people these shows portray. The lady just said what many of us have been thinking … That these reality shows do nothing for the advancement of the people or the city. We should stop watching these shows and if you need a reality show to watch…. Turn your tv on at noon, six, and eleven. That’s some reality for you.
gunga din
June 21st, 2012
5:05 pm
but Atlanta IS full of tattooed , hip hop thugs and booty hoes. just go downtown at night and see the gangs that roam around. go to any of the dance clubs or strips clubs and they ARE full of wannabee rappers just looking for a fight and hoes looking to hook up the a rich “baby daddy”
Jay B
June 21st, 2012
5:06 pm
Who wants to watch a train that doesn’t wreck? I can see professional, mature, restrained, well-behaved black people any day of the week. I want to see a bunch of fat-assed, sassy-talking, weave-wearing, fake-nail-having modern day Aunt Jemimas yelling at each other about who gets to live with (but not marry) the uneducated, unemployable, gang-tatted babydaddy once he gets paroled. Now THAT’s quality television!
ESP
June 21st, 2012
5:08 pm
If given the chance and the proper paycheck, all those complaining would air their dirty laundry and even perhaps ramp it up a bit to be on “reality” television. The truth of the matter is, though, that once the cameras are off, those people go to their families and take care of business.
Pretentiousness is a big part of the culture here in Atlanta. Those who are able to top the pretentiousness of others just happen to have more eyes on them. Eventually, we will start seeing Middle Easterners, Native Americans, Asians, etc…having their own reality shows…
Marlo's new name...
June 21st, 2012
5:08 pm
Take it up with Andy Cohen.
A Real Atlanta Housewife
June 21st, 2012
5:09 pm
It appears that people who really care about Atlanta, actually grew up in Atlanta…it’s not hard to figure out. If you do not remember Jelly-Bean skating rink circa 285 east or the era of Mr. V’s Figure 8 Night club, and the THRIVING of Greenbrier Mall you AINT (Country Ebonics deliberately inserted) from Atlanta. You may have moved to Atlanta, but you are not from Atlanta if your memory is jaded by pole-swinging, gun-toting, and the proliferation of the “negative side of Hip Hop.” The Maynard Jackson era is so profoundly etched into my brain, I did not think anywhere existed outside my peach state that could be more lovely and exciting. Atlanta was more than a black Mecca – I knew nothing of the economical benefits as a child. Atlanta, as I muse in retrospect was a place where black people were connected, we got it. Southern, but not country, educated but not “boogie.” Religious but not extreme…oh yeah, and we had a unique racial balance that other cities still marvel at, and construct workshops around to contemplate duplication. Through the 80’s our lives were turned upside down in lieu of the missing and murdered children’s serial killings and the Chattahoochee River became our worst winding nightmare. We rebounded with the Olympics, but it was a Pyrrhic victory apparently when all the riff-raff came to town, and like the circus never returned to “from whence they came.” The illegal immigrant mentality from other “hoods” that migrated into Atlanta is the cause, I believe of the paradigm shift from sweet and peachy to tasteless and artificial. I can tell, you are not home-grown because uncouth was not a part of the fertilizer. You are cheap hybrids, masquerading as the real thing and unfortunately TV execs benefit from the folly and fodder that is portrayed.
John
June 21st, 2012
5:09 pm
I don’t mean to offend my withe brother and sisters but until you have been in our skin and have been a minority and gone through some of my experiences you can not say what is or should be important in the African- American segment of the community
Seriously??
June 21st, 2012
5:15 pm
I agree with Ms. Beatty, and the way that Atlanta is portrayed on these Reality shows is a disgrace, but I also agree that ALL of the Reality shows show people on a whole in a negative/ bad light….even the Reality Cooking shows (Hell’s Kitchen, 80 Plates, etc.). It’s the nature of the beast and as long as we keep watching these shows….the beast will continue to get fat.
@ Native Atlantan: you don’t have a Black Girlfriend and she’s definitely not your 4th. And I know this, because I’m a Black Woman…and no Black Woman in her sane mind would resort to Modern Day Slavery, which is what your comment eludes to…hmmm the White Race is superior, all the Black Men do is beat their women, but you’re laying down with a Black Woman…so you’d have us to believe. BULLS*#@….your posts show your character which more so falls inline with that of a Grand Wizard and definitely not one of intellect, acceptance and tolerance, which are a few of the traits you’d have to possess to have a Black Girlfriend.
Bein reel
June 21st, 2012
5:18 pm
@ Natsha-Oh yeah Jelly Bean skating-the stolen car hangout on Sunday nights. Greenbriar- the shoplifting mall of the ATL… Yep remember it well.
John
June 21st, 2012
5:18 pm
Natasha has stated our case rather eloquently. Atlanta used to be being a “Grady baby”, skating at Jellybeans on Sunday nights and enjoying having a growing modern southern city that still had a small town feel.
Chaz
June 21st, 2012
5:28 pm
You dont have to be a native atlantan to appreciate this city and call it your home. The story is not where you are from its where we are at and how all of us regardless if we were born here or not are being portrayed on television globally. Its ashame that those few and I say few black women on those shows allow themeselves to be manipuated to acting out to cash a check. We are back to sambo and the clown, and as Maximus said in Gladiator are we not entertained!!!.
When you view the degrading persona they are showing young teen girls and the examples they claim are appropriate its disgusting. Every two seconds on the show its bitc– this bitc–, that, and MF you and then there is cat fight, and supposely man issues and of course money they are chasing from men they are not married too. Hence the confusing “HOUSEWIFES OF ATLANTA”. You know in the 50’s we wanted civil rights, in the 60’s we wanted those rights to be enforced, in the 70’s we wanted equal rights for all nationalities, in the 80’s we wanted job and education rights enforced, in the 90’s we finally saw the fruition of lot of those decades come true, but for some reason in 2012 these shows have helped in the stereotype and what their views and thoughts of us were in the 1950’s. But hey at least those women get a check right thats what matters!!!!!!!
Upsetum
June 21st, 2012
5:32 pm
Maynard was gay
Gary
June 21st, 2012
5:36 pm
Stop worrying about what on TV in Atlanta and deal with the morons driving this city into the ground. The place is falling apart. We do NOT need a new stadium. We need roads and water mains fixed. We need schools and teachers to be held accountable for the terrible work they do. We need the police to slow Atlanta down on the highways rather than collect fees for HOV lane violations. We need parts of the city like Auburn Ave and Five Points Station to be safe place to be at night. We don’t need to waste money on a belt line when our current roads are crumbling. If you do not like the show do not turn it on. It will go away, Atlanta’s real problems will not.
MPat
June 21st, 2012
5:40 pm
It’s about time. I am so sick of the superficial nature of these shows. It appears that the only thing black people in Atlanta are good for is gossip, backstabbing, shopping, and fighting. It is ridiculous. What about issues around education, politics, children in parts of Africa that are starving, girls in parts of Africa and even in Atlanta that can’t afford tampons. There are too many issues that black Atlanta needs to concern itself with other than this shallow bickering back and forth about who has more bling or drives the better car. It is establishing an image for our young people that is very deceptive. It also continues to divide our race. We need to boycott these shows, and demand that blacks in Atlanta be portrayed in a more positive light, and appear more multi-dimensional than what is currently displayed on Housewives of Atlanta.
William
June 21st, 2012
5:40 pm
She’s talkin ’bout the “THEN” We’s all about the “NOW”
RHWA is what the now lady’s of the ATL be ’bout
get in line and grab ya a 40, HO!
alphadog
June 21st, 2012
5:40 pm
While we’re at it lets consider how Hard Core Pawn portrays the good, but downtrodden, people of Detroit.
Baby
June 21st, 2012
5:42 pm
A report came out today that showed the rate of AIDS has doubled in African-American over the past 4 years. And we’re all arguing about representations of Atlanta, and fake housewives. Is this really the best use of her influence and voice? Aren’t there more real problems in the black community, than absurd “real housewives?” Use your powers for good, everyone already knows this crap is staged and fake.
Waldo is lost
June 21st, 2012
5:44 pm
These are not ‘reality’ shows. They are entertainment shows. The people of New Jersey, Orange County, Miami, DC, NYC could all have the same complaint. The ATL version is just the media extending equal opportunity to ATL. If people stopped watching, these shows wouldn’t exist. ALL Americans now have the equal opportunity of being turned into clowns for the sake of ratings. So, congrats as we’ve finally reached equality on at least one level.
Millermoose
June 21st, 2012
5:48 pm
The first thing all intelligent people realize is that “REALITY” shows are as far from reality as you can get. These shows are carefully orchestrated to provide the content and story the network filming the show want you to see. If the network in California is making a film about Atlanta, then they are going to portray what they think people want to see, not what the true reality is. If you turn the channel enough times, it may eventually get through to these network executives. If people keep watching, then the networks think that is what you want to see. The amount of stupid reality shows is amazing and I always wonder who the “target” audience is supposed to be. NOT ME !!!
Upsetum
June 21st, 2012
5:50 pm
Young women uneducated with no work skills. Still live at home with mommy. Mommy always took care of everything. Upheld them when they were clearly wrong.. Let the boyfriend spend the night. Everyone smoke out stay up late. Sleep until 12 the next day and do it again. The 22 to 30 age group is lost. This fantasy world that they live in is fueled by videos and hoes
vuduchld
June 21st, 2012
5:54 pm
This diatribe is one laughable piece of crap. Atl-aliens first welcomed these “reality” shows now they want to critize them because they show the city and it’s people in a negative light. Well, I first came to the ATL in 1969 and ended up living there from 1987-2009 and I have seen the city transform itself into what is present day. Please, Atlanta has always been a self centered lower tier city trying to be what it will never become, a world class destination. The place has been invaded by every two bit con artist looking for fame and a fast buck. Don’t try and take back what has always been, the genie is out of the bottle. Atlanta is a city full of psychotic socio-paths. This is a city for the sick and deranged, period.
big b
June 21st, 2012
5:57 pm
If we would stop chasing the dollar at any cost then we could demand to be shown the way we see fit.
suwanee guy
June 21st, 2012
5:57 pm
I think she has been gone from Atlanta too long. The reality shows depict the real people who are part of the Atlanta environment. That’s why I no longer go into the city.
Barry
June 21st, 2012
5:59 pm
I expected to read a lament about the reality show “Bait Cars,” which often, if not exclusively portrays the Atlanta Metro Police’s auto theft team and their cars. More than a reality show, it is an inconveniennt reality show because it doesn’t portray blacks in the area negatively, they do it to themselves, comprising almost 100% of the perpetrators.
Charles
June 21st, 2012
6:00 pm
Bill Cosby says it the best ….90% of African Americans problems are caused by themselves and in no small measure are their own worst enemies… this woman who pursued education, did not have 5 children from 3 different fathers, stayed off of drugs and did not glorify the hip-hop gansta lifestyle is somebody who will probably never need government assistance or need affirmative action to get into a school or get a job… think about that.
70% of African American children are born out of wedlock…and statistically most of the AA males between 18-35 are in jail or have been in jail …
She’s just calling you out for the problems you caused yourself…and the truth hurts and is never kind.
Upsetum
June 21st, 2012
6:02 pm
Enter your comments here
Pat Buchanan
June 21st, 2012
6:03 pm
Enter your comments here
Legal Eagle
June 21st, 2012
6:11 pm
I often read these post and laugh at them. Never comment just laugh but this one I had to because it is sad. I am an entertainment attorney in Atlanta and also an African American female. I represent cast member of a reality show. The first thing I think people need to understand is a lot of these shows are scripted to draw in viewers (and since people are still talking about it 2 days later it is safe to say that was a success). Secondly for people to think that all these people in any way make up the majority of Atlanta’s African Americans population clearly have not spent anytime in the city. Lastly anyone who believes that racism is not still very much so alive in the United States need only read the comments on here. It is absolutely amazing to me how the comments went from talking about how people are portraying themselves in a television shows to how one race is superior to the other, to why one person chooses to date outside their race to how ALL men of one particular race are abusive…….. the things people say.
Pat Buchanan
June 21st, 2012
6:14 pm
Here’s a snapshot of the new Atlanta.
Live in Lithonia in a $60k house and have grass growing out of your gutters,3 months past due on the mortgage,african art on your walls,shop at Wayfield Foods and get some necks,livers.The stench of grease is in your neighborhood.
Wear a coat and tie with $3 in your pocket,business cards,and a an I-Phone.Lease a BMW or get a high interest loan on a used Benz that’s rimmed up.If you bought it,Title Max owns the car.
You agree with Obama that “the private sector’s doing fine”.
Walk around Lenox Mall talking on the phone like you are a big shot.
That’s the values of the community !
Chaz
June 21st, 2012
6:20 pm
Well Legal Eagle, if you represent a client for one of these shows, you yourself are contributing to the stereotype the show is portraying. Yes we all know the show is scripted, its WHAT being descripted thats at issue. I surely do not need a law degree to conclude that. Obviously, you being such a fine upstanding professional can see how this is being relayed to young African American teen girls. And finally this show is broadcast globally, so its affecting every AA in every corner of America and beyond. Yes you are correct racism is alive and well and doing just fine, but as a responsible African American male and female we should not be feeding racist/stereotypical machine to keep it living. What they view on television is how they veiw all black women, and thats the problem with these shows, they are not just affecting folks in Atlanta its breeding a mindset for other races to conclude how black women behave.
Rick James
June 21st, 2012
6:21 pm
Nice! If we want to change how the newtworks portray us we need to change our appetites.Dont complain if you’re watching because you’re the largest part of the problem.
Quiet, "boring" black woman
June 21st, 2012
6:24 pm
Gotta love the ones that try to sneak racist, one-sided comments in. Crazy comes in all colors, Grand Dragon!
Atlantan in Exile
June 21st, 2012
6:27 pm
@A Real Atlanta Housewife: You said, “We rebounded with the Olympics, but it was a Pyrrhic victory apparently when all the riff-raff came to town, and like the circus never returned to “from whence they came.” The illegal immigrant mentality from other “hoods” that migrated into Atlanta is the cause, I believe of the paradigm shift from sweet and peachy to tasteless and artificial.”
You hit the nail on the head. Once the rest of the world found about a decent and cheap place to live, they all showed up. They brought their crime, gangs, traffic and lack of respect with them.
(Lest some of you forget, there was a day when Atlanta never had smog alerts, traffic was manageable, and gangs were almost non-existent. Gas was cheap and the city had a warm, welcoming vibe to it. Now it feels plasticy and natives feel like foreigners in their own city.)
Then they forgot to leave.
Then the economy got annihilated and now they’re stuck. Sad. The population of Atlanta jumped by 100,000 from 1996 to 2006 and the population of North Georgia jumped so much that 1 in every 2 Georgians lives in the Atlanta metropolitan area which is spread out across an area of land larger than the state of Massachusetts.
Bubba
June 21st, 2012
6:29 pm
There are plenty of shows on TV with trashy white people; towing cars, living in a swamp, pawn shops, etc… I work with many well educated professional black people and I don’t think any of them would go on a reality TV show or be very interesting to watch if they did. Here in The ATL we have plenty of trashy losers from every race who don’t mind going on TV and acting stupid, I don’t really see how you can control this?
Truth
June 21st, 2012
6:34 pm
Russell Construction has been nothing but a front operation for white owned contractors. Russell gets the project because of minority status and the white owned contractors subcontract and do the work. Of course Russell makes plenty on the deal, too.
DP
June 21st, 2012
6:34 pm
An interesting thing to note about RHOA and the other RH trash shows is that they air on the Bravo network, which is part of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is in turn part of General Electric, one of the major companies bailed out by the taxpayers during the 2008-09 financial meltdown. The CEO of GE, Jeff Immelt, was appointed about 18 months ago by President Obama to head his Jobs Council. That was a strange choice given that during Immelt’s tenure as CEO GE had reduced its number of jobs in the U.S. by 36,000.
Not content with just being bailed out by U.S. taxpayers in 2008-09, in 2010, while reporting net income of $5.1 billion in the U.S. and $14.2 billion worldwide, GE not only paid ZERO in U.S. taxes, it claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
Our tax dollars are subsidizing GE and the trash it produces like the Real Housewives of Atlanta.
DP
June 21st, 2012
6:37 pm
Legal Eagle, if you’re representing one of the trashy people on one of these so-called reality shows, you’re whoring yourself out for money just like they are. You just get to do it from behind the camera.
Is this the kind of difference you planned on making when you were an idealistic law school student?
roots
June 21st, 2012
6:37 pm
Lets be real. Lets get to the bottom of everything. And the question is…Why are these people giving consent to put themselves on t.v. to act like a total donkey in the beginning? Once you can get an answer to that,then go from there.
D-Man
June 21st, 2012
6:38 pm
I believe these reality shows are just a reflection of what society is interested in and that’s barbaric and moronic behavior. People find it interesting to watch other people behave like knuckleheads. It’s like the news…ever noticed it’s ONLY bad news? If you had a show that alerted you to GOOD news (there actually was a show like this that was cancelled back in the day) no one would watch it. People want carnage, they want mayhem, violence, etc. Well, mindless people that is. Those that have a mind of their own are READING, or paying attention to something else on t.v. that is not so vile and vulgar. These idiotic house “hoes” of Atlanta exist everywhere, NY, LA, MIA, hell even Boise, IdaHO, this show just happens to be based in a town that always seems to be on everyone’s hot “it” list. They could just easily move 10 mins south of College Park into Fayetteville or Newnan and have a show call “The Real Redneck Wives of GA” and you’d have the same ignorance and slew of complaints about said ignorance. So don’t pump your chest out too hard, the trailer park scene is very visible in the Atl too Cobb county, you’re just as much Atl as these African-Americans you’re having fun teasing about this blog. Ignorance- it’s the way of the world, television, and Hollywood, not indicative of the city of Atlanta or one race in it being anymore ignorant than any other town in America, but it is nice to see SOMEONE have pride and not want these shows representing this beautiful city full of blacks, whites, latino, Indian, and Vietnamese. It’s just that these particular reality shows this lady is complaining about are only pointing out one ignorant side of only one race of people, hers, and I don’t blame her for being bothered by it. I’d be disappointed if someone wasn’t. But TRUST me, that show is only show 1/100th of the dumb ish people in this town can be about. Just read half the comments on this blog if you know what I mean.
You look hard enough, you could find an idiot anywhere and put them on t.v., they are EVERYWHERE.
J.B.Stoner
June 21st, 2012
6:39 pm
Well I’ve given this much thought. It seems that a large % of blacks in America embrace the “Thug Life” mentality that black media emerces the culture in. I bet it safe to say that MLK ,Mr Herndon and countless others that fought (& I mean went to a war in the streets,real life and death stuff) for Civil Rights didn’t want a society that is one big self fufilling sterotype. Why must you all want to be Tupacs and Snoop dogs instead of Washingtons., or Herndons or Cosbys. Put down the guns & weed and pick up a book and make the sacrifices that were made for you stand for something..
Lukas
June 21st, 2012
6:56 pm
I can’t wait for all the ridiculous ‘reality tv’ shows to go off the air . . . taking all the stupid reality tv ‘people’ into the abyss with them. tv could be used for such good, and THIS is what they give us?
Ivan Cohen
June 21st, 2012
6:58 pm
To J.B. Stoner: have you taken a poll which justifies your conclusion that “a large % of blacks in America embrace the “Thug Life mentality that black media emerces the culture in? I don’t believe your percentage would apply to blacks 60 and older. Too often ” Civil Rights” is emphasized over gaining some “economic rights.” If people take what a reality show depicts as a fact of life, then this society is going over the cliff.
DP
June 21st, 2012
7:01 pm
Imagine if President Obama called Jeff Immelt into the Oval Office and said “Your company that was bailed out by the U.S. taxpayer and pays no income taxes in the United States has a network that is dumping trash on the American public, putting forward the worst possible kinds of women for young girls like my 2 young daughters to see. The profits from these shows are not even a rounding error on GE’s bottom line. I am asking you to have this garbage taken off the air, to make a public statement that apologizes for having produced and aired them and states that they will not be rebroadcast or sold into syndication. Should you choose not to do so, I will see to it that there are consequences, starting with a review of all U.S. military purchases of defense products and aircraft engines from GE and moving.”
How long would these shows stay on the air after that? President Obama is missing an opportunity to have a “Sister Souljah moment”.
maxx4955
June 21st, 2012
7:12 pm
Natasha…I couldn’t say it better myself. I too, can recall the days of Dion’s Club 21 and Mr. V’s. Great times I must say. Just the mention of Atlanta, made people from other places smile with envy because of the opportunities Atlanta presented. Don’t get me wrong…opportunities are still available…notwithstanding, now it’s about who knows you and fakin’ it, till you make it. The young lady who wrote the article made some really valid points. Personally I don’t watch the show she is referring, however, I have seen clips, and yes these ladies do portray themselves as high-class buffoons. In a world of look good and feel good…these woman are doing an injustice to themselves. Under the right conditions many people can and will sell their souls to the devil for fame and fortune, be it temporary or for any length of time, because money represents the “God” of many people, though most would deny this fact. These ladies and many of the other so-called Reality Stars bear witness to this. At the end of the day, God gives us all free will to live life that way we see fit. You have to make the choice of what team you are going to roll with…God’s or Satan’s.
VV
June 21st, 2012
7:18 pm
I notice Kelly Smith Beaty has chosen to live in NYC instead of Atlanta. Very telling.
The Truth
June 21st, 2012
7:18 pm
If you do not like the shows do not watch them. The same people complaining are probably the same ones watching. The shows would not exist if people did not watch them.
Jana
June 21st, 2012
7:21 pm
I totally agree with the comments made by Ms. Beaty, and I am a white female, living in Atlanta. I love our city and the wonderful accomplishments made by so many people living here. I have had friends from California, New Mexico, Washington, Wisconsin and Maine ask me if the trash seen on reality television, in any way, depicts actual life in Atlanta. Of course not!! It is so obscene and ridiculous that it would be amusing, if it were not so sad. I have been asked if African/Americans actually walk around malls and restaurants in clothing as portrayed. They are not African/Americans in the first place. They are black Americans. I’m quite sure they were born in the USA, not Africa. They are black Americans living in Atlanta, Georgia. We are not Indian/Americans, Italian/Americans, Mexican/Americans, or Irish/Americans. We are all Americans, with varying colors of skin, living in Atlanta, Georgia, and proud of our ethnic heritage, and our southern lifestyle in a wonderful southern city, a jewel of the south, Atlanta!
John
June 21st, 2012
7:24 pm
J. B. Stoner. Where are you getting your observations from? ” It seems that a large % of blacks in America embrace the “Thug Life” mentality ” and ” Put down the guns & weed”. I would suggest you stop watching so much tv and emerse yourself in the rich African American culture of this city.
bfred
June 21st, 2012
7:30 pm
For what it’s worth, people outside Atlanta who have visited generally have a very favorable opinion of the city. It’s a beautiful town with plenty to do and a friendly population. RHWOA cast the way it did because Atlanta is known for being a city of great opportunities for black people and the producers wanted to open another viewer demographic (in the same vein, the south FL version is mostly Hispanic). The fact that the women they picked are trashy is part and parcel of what the entire “Real Housewives” franchise is about.