BET's Disrespect Towards Africans.

Fuse ODG.

Nana Richard Abiona or rather as we all know him- Fuse ODG, expressed himself on twitter on why he wasn't going to come for the 2015 BET Awards Ceremony at the Microsoft Centre in Los Angeles, stating "...you give our awards back stage! You have no respect for our hard work and achievements." Fuse ODG, provoked social media with this tweet and potentially lost out to another UK-based Ghanian, Stormzy in the Best International Act Category.

The 2015 BET Awards was grandiose as usual and this time sparking with the opening performance of Wayne Brady - his epic freestyle and Kanye West's amazing reflection whilst receiving his Visionary Award.

The BET Awards has come and gone, but we must not ignore this disgusting misconduct towards Africans, what is the point of receiving an award or being recognised, if you get your plaque or medal behind closed curtains? It is disrespectful, degrading and absolutely repulsive.

Black Entertainment Television/BET targets the African American populace and hence should be void of "recognising" people that aren't American enough. The concept of being awarded is being recognised and encouraged and not being insulted and marginalised. There isn't one African that should "accept" such an insult in the name of "furthering" ones career or being recognised.

This isn't even Racism or Ethnocentrism, frankly, there isn't a word to describe it. It is either a legitimate attempt to class what being an African is or to put an explicit  differentiation between Africans in Africa and Africans that made it past the Atlantic.

Fuse ODG made a small but bold move by not attending or accepting any "BET" award, taking a stand against this witless classification. This is an act that will continue if it is ignored or overlooked. Whatever opportunity Fuse ODG lost in that award, he gained in dignity. Awards shouldn't be the scale with which you measure yourself, Nas never won an award but his albums are better than any Hip-Hop album out there, anywhere today.