AOG
The BET Awards was established back in 2001 (surprised at that, I thought it was much older), because at that time, black achievers weren't really celebrated in Hollywood.
In fact, one of the narratives that have been applied to the Oscars is, "Well, perhaps black actors aren't good enough to be nominated."
These awards shine a light on positive aspirational black achievers, who are role models for a younger generation.
I personally don't like the idea of a black awards show...but if you leave it to the rest of Hollywood, you might actually start believing in the whole 'not good enough' line.
And that would be tragic.
In an ideal world, there would be no need for a separate black channel/awards show, but I fear we are a long way from that.
Hollywood isn't racist per se. It's governed by what sells. That's the bottom line. It reflects public tastes and desires. I read a while ago that the reason you rarely see black models on the cover of high end fashion magazines, is because of sales. They will lose something like 10% of sales when a black model is on the cover (who isn't Naomi Campbell).
This doesn't make Vogue racist. It is a matter of economics.
If Hollywood cannot reflect society because of the economics of the film industry, then it's not Hollywood which is at fault...it's the general public.
This is why the BETs exist. Not to exclude (although it does), but to celebrate, where the doors to existing celebrations are either closed, or only open a crack.