This is the second year in a row that all 20 actors who were nominated for lead and supporting roles have been white. People of all races were upset at the evidence of racial discrimination and lack of opportunities available to actors of color. Many took to Twitter using hashtag #OscarsSoWhite to share their dissatisfaction. Others used their talents as journalists to write about the discrimination in The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast. Many described these reactions as emotional, sensitive, and nonfactual.
The fact is, people of color are underrepresented in the film industry as actors, writers, directors and producers. Is it due to lack of talent among people of color? No.
Racism is often equated with discrimination, but it is important to recognize the differences between the two. Racism concerns attitudes, conscious or unconscious, towards people based on their race or skin color. On the other hand, discrimination concerns power and action. Racial discrimination is the differential treatment of a person or group based on their race or skin color. That treatment involves the power to withhold social benefits, facilities, services, opportunities or awards from a person or group that should have access to or are entitled to because of their race or skin color.
It is incorrect to assume that the lack of diversity at the Oscars is due to the animosity in the hearts of the people making decisions. I don’t know any of them personally, but I can’t imagine the men and women who make up the Academy are a group of cruel racists that occasionally award people of color to deter suspicion.
However, it’s important to realize that they are a part of the same culture that cast Mickey Rooney (a white guy) as an Asian man in Paramount’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and more recently, cast Rooney Mara (a white woman) as Tiger Lily, a Native American character in Warner Brothers “Pan”. The same culture that over the past 15 years only nominated 29 black actors, of 300 nominations. That means it took 15 years for actors that represent about 10 percent of the population to represent about 10 percent of nominations (not wins) at the Oscars.
The decision makers have been immersed in that culture, in an institution that moves at a ‘glacial pace’ when it comes to meaningful changes in diversity according to awards editor, Tim Gray at Variety Magazine. We can definitely expect them to struggle. Is it okay? No. Are they racists? Not the malicious, violent kind we all imagine. Is saying ‘lack of diversity’ a euphemism for the racism present in the Academy and Hollywood as a whole? Yes.
Emily Jo Manchester is a contributing writer for the Bona Venture.
Her email is mancheej12@bonaventure.
