The Way I See It: #OscarsSoWhite
This is gonna be a long one, so you might wanna grab some popcorn.
There should be an award for not entertaining the ignorance that seems to proliferate in internet comments. Seriously. I didn’t know how strong my willpower was when it comes to refraining from trying to combat willful stupidity on the Internet, and on that note, I can only experience foolishness for so long before I need to speak out against it.
Recently, black actors and filmmakers like Lupita Nyong'o, Jada Pinkett Smith, Spike Lee, Idris Elba and others have spoken out against the Academy for this year's Oscar nominations where not a single person of colour as nominated in the Best Actor Category, and quite possibly the blackest movie of the year, Straight Outta Compton, which was widely well-received by critics, was shut out in every category except screenwriting, where the only people in the whole cast and crew that were nominated were white.
Flashback to the 2016 Golden Globes where Sylvester Stallone won for Best Supporting Actor and forgot to thank the director, Ryan Coogler, and Michael B. Jordan, who the entire storyline revolved around. This has nothing to do with them being black and EVERYTHING to do with the fact of how do you forget to thank your co-stars and the damn director? Without them this movie and your award would not have existed.
I rarely unfriend people on Facebook. I still have people in my friends list that I’ve maybe had one conversation with and local celebrities. I don’t use that platform like how I used to, so I really could care less who’s in my list. So when I say I needed to unfriend someone I’ve known for over 10 years because they said some foolishness this week, I don’t take it lightly. I wish I screenshotted the post before I unfriended him, but I didn’t.
1. His post said that black people boycotting the Oscars is pulling the race card, and that there aren’t and shouldn’t be awards for (and I quote): “best black actor or best chinese actor"
Where to begin on this one. I didn’t think that wanting to be recognized for your work, especially when it’s good work, was considered pulling the race card. This isn’t Iceland or Antarctica or some place in the world where finding a person of colour is difficult. In the context of the Oscars, it’s America, which last time I checked, had a pretty wide range of ethnic makeups in the their general population. Considering most of these stories tend to take place in the US, I very strongly believe that the cast of a movie that takes place in a developed country should be an accurate depiction of that country. But then you get the argument that well it’s a movie, it’s fiction. Okay, so it’s fiction, all the more reason to go to town and cast POC! I really don’t understand why people are so against everyone having an equal opportunity to succeed.
A non-ignorant Facebook friend of mine made a very poignant point though.
And to that point, there is literally not a single person that has said that black people automatically deserve an award for showing up. Literally no one. In the generation of participation ribbons and teachers getting suspended for handing out zeros many people, especially those of my generation have this sense of entitlement. But that’s not what this debate is about.
This one ties also back into Stacey Dash’s recent foolishness, but we’ll get back to that later.
2. Well you have the BET Awards and the NAACP Image Awards, so why are you complaining? or Non-Black People don’t get any of these awards! And there’s no White Entertainment Television.
This one’s a 3-parter:
a) The ENTIRE reason that BET exists is because we were tired of being excluded from the mainstream. Literally the entire reason. If there was more diversity in TV shows on television, there would not be a need for BET to exist. Also BET isn’t even black-owned anymore, so you’ll have to take up BET’s existence with its current owners.
b) Not only have non-black people like Iggy Azealea, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Daft Punk and Ariana Grande been nominated by the BET Awards, but Macklemore & Ryan Lewis went on the BET Award for Best Group in 2013. And no NAACP Image Award Winners? Sam Smith won just as early as last year, 2015 for Outstanding Duo or Group. And I’m also sure that we remember Donald Sterling who was actually nominated for an Image Award despite the fact that he wasn’t exactly the greatest human being on earth. However, after his ex-mistress V. Stivsano recorded and published his hella racist comments, the NAACP decided that might not be the best idea.
c) Then the argument I get back is well that’s not true diversity, that’s just one or two people here and there. BUT THAT’S THE DAMN POINT. We’re not saying that the Oscars must have a quota of how many POC should be nominated for each category, but recognize the work and the talent that’s there! Joy was very poorly received by critics, but yet still Jennifer Lawrence has been nominated for (and will probably win) for Best Actress. This while Idris Elba or Abraham Attah were absolutely marvellous in Beast of No Nation and last year Ava DuVernay absolutely killed it with Selma.
3. Well it’s not just black people that didn’t get nominated. There were no Asians or Hispanic people either.
Why is it that every time we bring up a point of contention we get "well it’s not just you”. Once again, literally no one has said that this is a black vs. white issue. As a black woman, I can only speak to my life experiences as a cis black woman. I am not an Asian male or a Latina woman or someone who is non-binary. I can empathize with Asians and Latinx people because we have certainly had some similar experiences, but I cannot say that any two experiences are one and the same nor can I speak to them. When Asian (and I use that term loosely, including Southeast Asians in this particular narrative) and Latinx people share their experiences and the adversity that they’ve faced, it is not my place to jump up and speak for them, but to shut the hell up an listen.
Furthermore, Asians and Latinx people are now just starting to become mainstream in non-stereotypical roles that I’ve seen in my lifetime (see Jane the Virgin, Cristela and Fresh Off The Boat).
And to be completely honest, we know what happens to marginalized groups when they speak out against the majority. So if they’ve decided that they might not want to make too much noise about this situation, hell I can’t really blame them.
4. The majority of responses that I’ve seen on Twitter & Facebook about this issue are degrading.
I consider myself somewhat of an academic. I love a good debate, especially when it comes with carefully selected and researched receipts. What I don’t understand is why if someone disagrees with your opinion, they’re immediately dehumanized and reduced to an animal or are called a barrage of racial slurs. I truly do not understand it. If that’s how you’re gonna come every time someone disagrees with you, then it’s best that you move to your own personal island because you don’t seem to be able to handle life in this world.
5. Stacey mf-ing Dash.
If case you’re living under a rock you’ve missed it, Stacey Dash said that we have to decide whether or not we want to be segregated or integrated (we’re trying to be more integrated, that’s literally the entire point, but it seems to have missed her), and that we need to get rid of BET, the NAACP Image Awards and Black History Month. This woman has clearly forgotten that she pretty much would just have been another name on the Clueless credits if it weren’t for black people keeping you relevant all these years. But some people like to bite the hand that feeds them. Don’t worry boo, the internet never forgets.
I could drag her too, but BET & Roland Martin have already done such a great job.