Boycott Petition Created Against Love & Hip Hop Atlanta

A new Change.org boycott petition is now circulating in response to the premiere of Vh1’s newest reality show, Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, which chronicles the love lives and career struggles of new and prominent artists in the city. The petition asks those viewers who were offended by what many feel are the negative portrayals of Black women, and life and culture in the city of Atlanta, to stand up and help to encourage advertisers to pull their money and get the show off the air fast, reports EURweb.com.

Here is a snippet from the petition, which currently has almost 1,500 signatures and growing:

After we made a ruckus about Basketball Wives, sponsors began to pull ads. Well, it’s that time again, folks! While we should respect the perceptions and experiences of the men and women featured on “reality” television shows, networks are airing stories that could be very helpful for people to hear, but they’re telling these stories in EXTREMELY dangerous ways… And since VH1 has chosen to give us yet another beautifully-blinged jewel of commercial exploitation (Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta), they might as well be the face of change… As we work toward national- and local-level change, let’s tell VH1 and their sponsors (again) why people from a broad range of backgrounds will NOT stand for the exploitation of the lived experiences of people who may not even know they’re being exploited. This isn’t a “Black or White” thing, this is a HUMAN thing…and we should all understand.”

To read more or sign, visit Change.org. This is not the only public cry for action circulating the web right now. Popular HuffingtonPost blogger Kelly Smith Beaty, who’s a proud former Atlanta resident and Spelman College graduate, wrote a cutting rant about the show’s premiere asking “Will the Real Black People of Atlanta Please Stand Up?” which presently has over 10,000 likes and 2,000 shares.

Will you sign the petition? Tell us your thoughts about the show below.