Could race have curved the nominees?
The 87th Academy Awards aired tonight at 8pm and has many people up in arms. This year’s awards are set to be the whitest since 1998 and this information has started the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite on Twitter.
April Reign, a lawyer/blogger, created the hashtag out of frustration of the lack of nominees of color. More particularly, director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo of the film Selma, were snubbed of the Best Director and Best Actor categories.
“The point of the hashtag I created is not that the other nominees are not deserving. They all turned in excellent performances and that should be recognized. But Ava and David also should be recognized for their outstanding contributions, among others,” Reign expressed.
Although the conversation has put things in retrospect for some of Hollywood’s biggest fans, Ava DuVernay would like to cease the #OscarSoWhite controversy altogether. She explains:
“With all due respect, all of these issues around race, gender and class are a distraction right now to the beauty of a film about freedom fighters who fought for justice and indignity; the rest of it is kind of media-created hype.”
With 95,000 tweets per hour, should we respect her wishes and end the protest now? Or keep fighting this fight against the Academy Awards since only 32 Oscars out of more than 2,900 winners were won by a Black person?
Wow, dwell on that for a moment and let us know do you agree with the #OscarsSoWhite debate.
