By Julia Conforti, staff writer
When the 2016 nominations for the Oscars were released to the public, a prominent issue in Hollywood and our society was brought up. People of all ages and races were quick to point out the lack of black people nominated for the golden statue.
But the exclusion isn’t anything new to black actors, since 94 percent of the Academy’s voters are white and historically 95 percent of Academy Awards have gone to white people.
No black actors were even nominated for an Oscar this year or last year, and the worst part is that this is hardly surprising. Due to this, many black actors boycotted the Oscars. They refused to show up and publicly spoke against the racism in the Academy. The only notable representation at the Oscars is Chris Rock as the host of the event.
Other magnificent movies which were black focused such as Beasts of No Nation were completely ignored by the Academy, even though it was outstanding.
Though the black culture- focused movie Straight Outta Compton was nominated for screenwriting, the only members of the film’s crew recognized were two white people. This slight reminded people of last year’s marvelous movie Selma’s unfortunate losses at the 2015 Oscars, despite clearly earning a few awards. Many people suspected that it would have won best picture, but it did not and it was shocking.
The racism in the Academy is repetitive, though others point their fingers not only at the Academy, but at Hollywood in general. Award winning actress Viola Davis went deeper than others had and accused Hollywood of not giving black actors, directors, or writers a chance. Davis also claimed that it is easier for white people to ‘get big’ in Hollywood.
So this problem can only be solved if we dig deeper and start accusing Hollywood. More black people need to get movie deals in America, otherwise our Oscar shows will always be lacking representation of a huge population.