Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith are Right to Boycott Oscars

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Photo: Getty, Ivan Nikolov/WENN

Director Spike Lee and actor Jada Pinkett Smith, tired of the lack of diversity in award nominations, and are taking a stand by boycotting the Oscars.

For the second year in a row, the voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences failed to nominate anyone of color in any of the 20 major categories.

Despite the snub, there were a number of films produced, directed and starred by blacks, and while two, Creed and Straight Outta Compton, received nominations, the individuals nominated – Sylvester Stallone for Best Supporting Actor, and Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus for Best Original Screenplay – are white.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed by social media, as the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite made its way around Twitter in the wake of last week’s Oscar nominations.

For director Spike Lee and actor Jada Pinkett Smith, enough is enough as the pair, in separate communications via social media, are boycotting the 2016 Oscar Ceremony airing February 28.

#OscarsSoWhite… Again. I Would Like To Thank President Cheryl Boone Isaacs And The Board Of Governors Of The Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences For Awarding Me an Honorary Oscar This Past November. I Am Most Appreciative. However My Wife, Mrs. Tonya Lewis Lee And I Will Not Be Attending The Oscar Ceremony This Coming February. We Cannot Support It And Mean No Disrespect To My Friends, Host Chris Rock and Producer Reggie Hudlin, President Isaacs And The Academy. But, How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White? And Let's Not Even Get Into The Other Branches. 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can't Act?! WTF!! It's No Coincidence I'm Writing This As We Celebrate The 30th Anniversary Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday. Dr. King Said "There Comes A Time When One Must Take A Position That Is Neither Safe, Nor Politic, Nor Popular But He Must Take It Because Conscience Tells Him It's Right". For Too Many Years When The Oscars Nominations Are Revealed, My Office Phone Rings Off The Hook With The Media Asking Me My Opinion About The Lack Of African-Americans And This Year Was No Different. For Once, (Maybe) I Would Like The Media To Ask All The White Nominees And Studio Heads How They Feel About Another All White Ballot. If Someone Has Addressed This And I Missed It Then I Stand Mistaken. As I See It, The Academy Awards Is Not Where The "Real" Battle Is. It's In The Executive Office Of The Hollywood Studios And TV And Cable Networks. This Is Where The Gate Keepers Decide What Gets Made And What Gets Jettisoned To "Turnaround" Or Scrap Heap. This Is What's Important. The Gate Keepers. Those With "The Green Light" Vote. As The Great Actor Leslie Odom Jr. Sings And Dances In The Game Changing Broadway Musical HAMILTON, "I WANNA BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS". People, The Truth Is We Ain't In Those Rooms And Until Minorities Are, The Oscar Nominees Will Remain Lilly White. (Cont'd)

A photo posted by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on

Around the same time Lee put out his post, Pinkett Smith said her piece via Twitter:

After her tweets, Pinkett Smith posted this video to Facebook, confirming that she would not be in attendance or watching this year’s Oscar telecast.

It’s easy for some to be cynical and brush this to the side as sour grapes, as some have done, because both Lee and Pinkett Smith could be seen as particularly upset since Lee’s Chi-Raq failed to receive any nominations just as Pinkett Smith’s husband, Will Smith failed to get a nomination for his role in Concussion.

But to see that as a case of sour grapes is to willfully ignore a problem that’s plagued the entertainment industry, particularly the film industry, since its inception. As Lee said in his post, “It’s Easier For An African-American To Be President Of The United States Than Be President Of A Hollywood Studio”, and the proof is in the pudding. While Barack Obama is about to finish his second term as President of the United States, we have yet to have a black president of a movie studio.

The closest blacks have come to running a studio came in 2003 when Richard Parsons became head of Time Warner, a post he had until 2007, but there is quite a difference between running a media company, and breaking a long-standing barrier in Hollywood that, much like sports, allows blacks to perform, but not rule.

Those who would refute allegations of sustained racism in Hollywood would be quick to remind you that Cheryl Boone Isaacs, a black woman, is currently the president of the Academy. They would also remind you that Chris Rock is the host of this year’s Oscars, a show that is produced by Reginald Hudlin, a black producer and director. With all that color upfront, how could anyone claim racism?

As Pinkett Smith says in her tweets, people of color are indeed always invited to entertain or give awards to their fairer-skinned peers, but when it comes to recognition, while it happens, it certainly doesn’t happen enough to have any value or weight.

Even Rock, who’s being paid to host the Oscars has his eyes wide open on the subject.

It’s not enough that black entertainers have to be seen as begging, or asking as Pinkett Smith put it in her video, it’s compounded by the fact that when blacks are given awards, it’s for roles where they play either slaves, criminals or civil rights figures.

Hollywood has yet to recognize black performances that aren’t marked by some form of a stereotype, and until that happens, how can anyone say that black actors aren’t right to boycott a system that is set up to simultaneously exploit them while denying them power?

This isn’t about setting up some level of affirmative action for entertainment awards, even if Lee thinks so. Just as the NFL Rooney Rule only guarantees interviews to black candidates, it sure as hell doesn’t help them get head coaching jobs.

Real change requires sacrifice.

Boycotting the Oscars is only a symbolic gesture, and unfortunately, nothing will change until Hollywood changes. As Pinkett Smith says, “we have to stand in our power”. By doing that, those involved must recognize their power and act on it.

This means that the boycott that Lee and Pinkett propose for themselves should be followed by every producer, actor and director who plan to attend the Oscars. This includes host Rock and producer Hudlin. They may incur financial loss, but what is the price tag for dignity and solidarity?

Until they do, they will still be used as tools for entertainment, with the rare and occasional honor of being recognized for the hard work they do to entertain audiences who seem, on the whole, completely disinterested in their plight.

Hashim R. Hathaway (Uncle Shimbo) is the host of the Never Daunted Radio Network, and proud father to NeverDaunted.Net. You can reach him on Twitter @NeverDauntedNet

  One Reply to “Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith are Right to Boycott Oscars”

  1. Pingback: White People Are Having The Worst Black History Month Ever | Never Daunted Radio Network

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