Fox News contributor Stacey Dash created quite the controversy this week when she suggested that black entertainers who support self-segregation–à la BET and Black History Month–are hypocrites for trashing the lack of black Oscar nominees.
In response, BET took cheap shots at the 49-year-old actress and suggested she return the check the network paid her for a reoccurring role on a now-defunct show.
It wasn’t long before Dash hit back.
“Thank you for reminding me, since most people have never heard of that show,” Dash wrote Thursday.
Dash’s op-ed entitled, “How BET Lies to Black People,” argues that “Oscars are awarded to the actors and actresses who excel.”
“What’s next?” Dash asks, “Giving a blue ribbon to the kid who stayed home from field day? Giving a Nobel Peace Prize to a President who escalated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?”
“My problem goes back to the notion that every area of life needs to break down exactly according to demographic ratios except in those areas in which black people have decided they want to have their own space,” she said about BET’s double standard. “I don’t have a problem with black people having their own space. I have a problem with the folks at BET absolutely freaking out when other institutions don’t match up to what they think is best.”
Dash also condemned the black-centered channel for spreading racial invective.
“BET lies to American black people by telling them that the rest of America is racist, so stick close to your own kind,” she wrote. “They’re absolutely mortified that someone like me—an independent-thinking black woman—dares call their bluff.”
“I’m thankful for all of the acting jobs I’ve had,” Dash said. “But, I look forward to the day when people don’t self-segregate based on skin color, while loudly complaining about a segregated society.”