Scott Mills, President of BET Networks

In this episode of Talks at GS, BET Networks President Scott Mills discusses systemic racism, violence and inequality in American life; BET’s efforts to empower black Americans through its programming; and ways in which protest can lead to sustainable change.

On systemic racism, violence and inequality in American life: “I think at the end of the day, race is a persistent reality for people of color in this country because so much of the way the world interacts with you is a function of your race.”

On the role of the media in the conversation around race: “Racism is a result of the messages, the communication, the images, the portrayals. It’s a result of what we communicate to the world about different populations. And we know this to be true. We know that the messages we send and the images we portray are an integral part of how people’s perceptions of other people in this world are established. And the challenge is – it doesn’t make everybody racist, but it makes some material portion of the population racist. And then that material portion of population goes out and is equally distributed across all sectors of society.”