#OscarsSoWhite Activist Leads Outcry Against HBO with #NoConfederate Hashtag

Creator of the powerful hashtag #OscarsSoWhite is standing up for Hollywood justice once again. Since Game of Thrones showrunners and HBO announced the order of a sci-fi series called Confederate based on an alternate modern America where slavery still exists, social media has been raging in opposition to the controversial show that has yet to be written.

Activist and former lawyer April Reign, who coined the popular hashtag #OscarsSoWhite has renewed debate about the lack of diversity in Hollywood and is calling on the Twitterverse to stand up and stop the creation of Confederate before it gets to the pages of a script.

"This Sunday at 9pm ET, during @GameOfThrones, we ask you to stand with us.  We want to send a message to @hbo using hashtag #NoConfederate." tweeted Reign. That night, the hashtag was the 2nd highest trending topic worldwide.

Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss think "It’s just a little premature,” and that people should wait until they actually see an episode before getting offended. "You know, we might f**k it up. But we haven’t yet,” Beinoff told New York’s Vulture.

But the showrunners aren’t the only creatives behind the disputed show. Nichelle Tramble Spellman and her husband, Malcolm Spellman are African American writers who are also executive producers on Confederate.  They want audiences, especially black journalists, to trust them on this one and are reassuring all who are angered by Confederate that they are not going to let this become a show that entertains lovers of slavery.

The goal, they say, is to show how modern racial issues — are rooted in the America's legacy of slavery.  But if the audience is screaming they don’t want to see it, who are the writers making it for?

The show is still in development and will not likely premiere for over a year from now. That gives plenty of time for the controversy to swell, or come to a happy medium.