The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite resurfaced as the 2016 Oscars is fast approaching. With this, two famous African-Americans declared boycotting the Academy Awards this year due to lack of diversity amongst nominees.
According to CNN, these two renowned personalities are filmmaker Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett-Smith. The two have posted separate messages last Monday in which they announced that they will not attend the ceremony on February 28 after the Oscar nominees were revealed.
The nominees included are all white actors and not a single black actor. This year is the second time in a row that it happened. This led to high-profile celebrities to speak against the issue and give light to what is considered as somehow a discrimination to black actors.
As for Pinkett-Smith and Lee, Latin Post reported that the two of them took it to social media on expressing their disappointment towards the Academy Awards. Lee wrote a long post on Instagram together with a black and white photo.
"How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White? 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can't Act?! WTF!!," the caption has read. Also, Lee wrote how it is not a coincidence that him taking the issue on social media is the same day as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's 30th anniversary of his birthday.
Pinkett-Smith, on the other, filmed herself and posted the video on Facebook. She explained that not just asking but begging for acknowledgement leads to a diminishing amount of dignity and power. She added that all of them are a dignified people and are powerful.
"Let's let the academy do them, with all grace and love. And let's do us differently," Will Smith's wife further stated.
News also said that Pinkett-Smith's husband, Will Smith, was not included among the 20 nominees in the categories, who are all white. It is said that this was one of the big factors that made Pinkett-Smith decide to boycott Oscars.
It was also reported that the awards show is expected to have lower ratings because of what happened last year. Apparently, Neil Patrick Harris was the host of the show, which contributed only 16 percent in the ratings.
As for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, she also expressed how disappointed she is with the results of the nomination. She was frustrated and heartbroken due to lack of inclusion of excellent black actors.
Ironically, the Oscars 2016 will be hosted by Chris Rock, who is a black comedian. He ultimately joined the mounting criticism of lack of diversity among the Academy Awards nominees, calling it "The White BET Awards."
