Black men and reality TV: Should the men of 'Love & Hip Hop' be held accountable for their actions?

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To take inspiration from Beyoncé’s hit song, “If I Were a Boy” — if I were a man, I would be spitting mad about how my black maleness is being presented on the Love & Hip Hop franchises.

Seriously, week after week, and over the span of three years, six seasons and two series (with plans of expanding the franchise by two more series), we have watched black men routinely embarrass and flat out dishonor themselves by engaging in some of the worse representation of black manhood to be witnessed on television.

And yet it is black men who have been the least likely to stand up and speak out against these unflattering caricatures of their collective image.

The proof speaks for itself

Think I’m exaggerating? Well, let’s take inventory of the “men” who have thus far graced the sleazy showcases of both the Love & Hip Hop New York City and Atlanta franchises. Here are their main stats:

• Peter Gunz: Living with the mother of his two children for over 13 year; has a history of infidelity; keeps his marriage a secret while continuing a live-in relationship with the mother of his kids.

• Lil Scrappy: A self-proclaimed mamma’s boy, with a long criminal rap sheet; did a stint in rehab for marijuana addiction in order to avoid jail time for failing to pass a drug test while out on probation; a womanizer, who regularly cheated on his fiance and mother of his son; had on-air violent fight with fellow Love & Hip Hop Atlanta cast member Stevie J.

• Stevie J: Nicknamed “Sleaze-O” for his inability to stop his womanizing and scheming on women; cheated on his long term girlfriend and mother of his daughter with an exotic dancer, whom he ended up getting pregnant and then goading into an abortion; once used money given to him by his fiance to buy the silence of his baby’s mother; proposed to both his fiance and mother of his children at the same time, which resulted in a huge fight.

• Consequence: Believes that “white is right,” yet even with his white woman has controlling issues to the point that he doesn’t allow his Christian white baby’s mom to attend family function out of respect to his own personal Islamic beliefs; is tight-fisted with money, but doesn’t want his partner to work; is notorious for having several on-air violent fights with fellow Love & Hip Hop NY cast member Joe Budden.

• Joe Budden: A womanizer; was accused of domestic abuse by two of his former cast members, including current girlfriend and co-star Tahiry; a drug addict; was involved in several physical altercations including with fellow cast member Consequence.

• Kirk Frost: A womanizer, who cheated on his pregnant wife; told his pregnant wife to get an abortion, and when she wouldn’t, denied responsibility for conceiving their child; went on to have a televised threesome.

• Mandeecees Harris: facing 20 years of imprisonment at the federal level, stemming from a Maryland drug conviction case; was accused and went to trial for alleged inappropriate relationship with a 15 year old but he was ultimately found not guilty; choked out his fiance’s cousin

Honestly I could go on but I think I’ve painted a pretty vivid picture of the men of Love & Hip Hop.

All the focus is on women: Why?

For the most part, none of these reality shows have been particularly complimentary to the black man’s image. They are shown as either deadbeats, or abusers, or a combination of both.  And yet when discussions arise about the damaging black stereotypical images on reality television, it is the black man’s image that is less likely to be called into question and be subjected to critique by viewers.

As a matter of fact, the majority of petitions, protest, angry blog posts, news articles and boycotts have all focus on removing what many deem as negative images of black women on reality TV.

Such as this Change.org petition for Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, in which one concerned viewer took issue specifically over the behavior of cast member Momma Dee. And then there is another Change.org petition demanding that TV One, the network behind the wildly popular R&B Divas franchise, remove Kelly Price from the show for seemingly rude behavior not becoming of a diva.