The Oscar Boycott: Stacey and Jada Both have it Wrong
February 2, 2016By Billy Delgado

So I'm scrolling through the Facebook feeds and I see a few jokes about Stacey Dash. Jokes that seem to imply she's a bimbo, dumb, “out of touch” or a racist or both. I'm thinking "What's with all the jokes about Stacey Dash?"

                  

Quick trip down Memory Lane:

                  

Stacey Dash was an actress in the 90s who is part Bajan (I didn't even know what that was), African American and...Mexican...Who knew? Anyway, she was like 95 percent of the American male population's secret crush and many have probably seen her movies because 95 percent of the American male population wanted to see her mocha-skinned, green-eyed self in any media. Her last "big" roles were in R&B and Hip Hop music videos (two of them) and then she disappeared from pop culture for about a decade until she resurfaced as a protagonist in Vh1’s Single Ladies and then as a contributor for Fox News, to my surprise, in 2014. Who knew?

                  

It seems that many are disturbed at her comments recently on Fox News regarding the black community in response to Jada Pinkett-Smith's call to boycott the Oscars for its apparent snub of Black actors. This is the quote taken from Stacey Dash. Two interviews that were nearly identical in content:

                  

"My thoughts are that the real issue is that there aren't many opportunities for us people of color to have roles where it warrants us winning an Oscar. And my second point of view is: Either you want to be segregated or you want to be integrated. And if you want to be integrated, then you don't need to have things like BET, or the BET Awards, or the Image Awards where you have to be Black in order to win these. Because if White people did that, everyone would be up in arms. So there's a double standard. Just like there shouldn't be a Black History Month...We're Americans. Period. That's it."

                  

So this is what caused a round of Facebook memes lumping Stacey Dash with former WHITE President of the NAACP Rachel Dolezal and El Chapo, of all people, questioning her black pride or lack thereof. Is Stacey Dash wrong? Is she some kind of "Aunt Tom"? Is it that simple to say we should get rid of channels and award shows that cater to Black attendees and viewers if the aim is to be fully integrated into White society?

Personally, I think Stacey oversimplified a topic that probably merits more conversation than Fox News was willing to give her.

                  

A double standard is defined "as a rule or principle that is unfairly applied in different ways to different people or groups."

                  

So is there a double standard when BET Awards and shows of its like have a predominantly and deliberate Black audience and then cry foul when the Oscars doesn't seem to think there is a person of color that deserves a nomination in 2016? I think Stacey Dash was fair to bring up the point but then she dives deeper and calls Black History month into question.  I believe she is forgetting why these shows, channels and a month were created in the first place.

If you look past the perceived double standard, you will see that BET founder Robert L. Johnson saw an unfair amount of exposure to black musical artists and decided that he was going to start a channel that would cater to a neglected market. Sixty-three of the American population is non-Hispanic White Americans and that's considered an all-time low. So White Americans have had their way, generally speaking, for a long time in America. When it comes to Hollywood, who can argue that the industry is bias at the least, if not racist?

                  

We just left the year 2015 and Hollywood was still casting Anglos to play NORTH AFRICAN Characters in the movie Exodus and director Ridley Scott had no shame in saying that White actors simply bring more viewers and profit...in 2015!

                  

If you look past the double standard, you will see that America loves to celebrate her history but often (sometimes purposefully) fails to recognize how much African-Americans involuntarily played a part in that history and many times contributed greatly to society in tangible ways. Carter G. Woodson saw that the "Negro" was being neglected in history lessons and so he started "Negro History Week" which morphed into Black History Month, celebrating a race that wasn't being celebrated.

                  

As a second grader, I wouldn't have known who Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman were if my elementary school hadn't celebrated Black history Month. Indeed, I had to learn the song Lift every voice and sing in commemoration of the event.  So from its infancy, these were great accomplishments. Now, these steps forward are being overcast by a loud few all because Pinkett-Smith felt her people were being consciously snubbed and she wanted to protest by encouraging counter-snubs in Oscar attendance. Which brings me to my next point.

                  

Should you right a wrong with another wrong? Is the answer boycotting? Jada suggested that they start their own thing by pulling "back OUR resources and WE put them back into OUR communities, OUR programs and WE make programs for OURselves that acknowledge US in ways that WE see fit..."

                  

Did you catch the theme? If not, I purposefully put them in big letters. This is where I think things get prickly because I'm going to share my thoughts that may rub some the wrong way: why the counter-measures? Why do the SAME thing that "they" are doing to you? Why snub them and start programs and shows for one group of people and exclude the rest of the world and commit the same error? Why? I'll give you an example with a debate I had in my own weird head:

                  

I think South Florida and its churches are teaming with Christian Contemporary Music. And by that, I mean, we are saturated with White Gospel music. Straight up. I turn to four local Christian radio stations and they're all playing Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, Dave Crowder, Plumb, Gateway Worship, Kristian Stanfill, Francesca Battistelli, Natalie Grant, Jenn Johnson and I love them all! They're all great musicians and great Christian songs; I have them in my iPod, but I like variety too! God likes variety because he made us all in different shades of pigmentation! So, why do my White brothers and sisters feel like we need more CCM?

                  

Granted, they'll throw a bone and give us one Mandisa song or one Mary Mary song in a day's rotation and maybe even designate an hour of Christian rap on a Friday night from 12 - 1 a.m. when nobody is really listening. This is an obvious snub of other flavors of Gospel music and I told myself that if I EVER own a Christian radio station, I would play ALL kinds of music. Now, I know it's not realistic to have country and rap on the same station unless you're Kid Rock but I would have BALANCE.

                  

I believe in balance. I would not exclude my White brothers and sisters because they don't involve "us" and I would be HAPPY to play some Chris Tomlin and Jenn Johnson. Because I think they have God-given talent. I feel the same way about Canton Jones and Christon Gray. Canton, particularly, has songs I think merit consideration for "worship" time in Sunday service. I think they're just as talented and I would include them all in my hypothetical radio station and profits or lack thereof be damned!

                  

Which is what I would try to convey to Jada Pinkett-Smith and Stacey Dash. Is that what should be done? Erase the intentions, Stacey? Pretend racism isn't there and not doing anything about it? And as for Jada, should there be equal counter-measures to racism? Tit for tat? You exclude me then I exclude you? Then you're back to square one and you'll have another BET Awards, Image Awards, Soul Train Music Awards and Vibe Awards and it'll be the same thing over and over again and there is no real change being made.

                  

Why ignore a whole world out there who are equally ignored? There are many excellent Asian American actors who get made fun of in scripts by their White and Black counterparts. Native American actors have been snubbed forever and are relegated to Western movies. Native New Zealander and Maori descendent Cliff Curtis is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood! He plays Arabs and Latinos on screen! Have you seen Iranian actor Peyman Moaadi in Camp X-ray recently? Where's his Oscar?

                  

So you see, I don't believe the answer is giving them a taste of their own medicine. If you're going to start something, begin with true unity that invites all cultures and races, including White people to be a part of something that acknowledges talent, regardless of color. There's is nothing wrong with welcoming haters. Jesus foreknew that Judas Iscariot would betray him yet Jesus acknowledged him as a friend that he trusted (Psalm 41:9). That would be a sight to see, if there were such a program. We dare not pretend Hollywood is not guilty of racism. But when you say "our" and "we" in your exhortation, consider including the entire human race and give racism a snub.

                  

Martin Luther King Jr. addresses this in a nutshell: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness -- only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate -- only love can do that.”

                  

                  

The self-proclaimed Zig Ziglar of rap, Billy Delgado, is a Music Producer/Artist and Writer by day and sleeping pillow-drooler by night. He is currently producing the debut album for his band The 288's, a God-inspired Hip Hop/R&B group that combines soul-baring lyricism with an electric innovative sound, breaking from the norm and reaching all cultures & ages (save senior citizens). He still can't believe he's a family man with a beautiful wife Mari & three boys Chris, Nelson and Joshua, so he continues to pinch himself silly to this day.

The self-proclaimed Zig Ziglar of rap, Billy Delgado, is a Music Producer/Artist and Writer by day and sleeping pillow-drooler by night. He is currently producing the debut album for his band The 288's, a God-inspired Hip Hop/R&B group that combines soul-baring lyricism with an electric innovative sound, breaking from the norm and reaching all cultures & ages (save senior citizens). He still can't believe he's a family man with a beautiful wife Mari & three boys Chris, Nelson and Joshua, so he continues to pinch himself silly to this day.

- See more at: http://www.newdmagazine.com/apps/articles/web/articleid/79282/columnid//default.asp#sthash.rR184hJD.dpuf

The self-proclaimed Zig Ziglar of rap, Billy Delgado, is a Music Producer/Artist and Writer by day and sleeping pillow-drooler by night. He is currently producing the debut album for his band The 288's, a God-inspired Hip Hop/R&B group that combines soul-baring lyricism with an electric innovative sound, breaking from the norm and reaching all cultures & ages (save senior citizens). He still can't believe he's a family man with a beautiful wife Mari & three boys Chris, Nelson and Joshua, so he continues to pinch himself silly to this day.

- See more at: http://www.newdmagazine.com/apps/articles/web/articleid/79282/columnid//default.asp#sthash.rR184hJD.dpuf


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