#OscarsSoWhite – Fans react to absence of a non-white Academy Award nominee.
The nominees for the 2016 Oscars are out and not a single black actor was nominated.
Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, actor John Karsinski, Ang Lee and Guillermo del Toro announced the 8th Academy Award nominations on Thursday. And The Academy’s judges have chosen an all white cast for this year’s Oscars for both best actors/actress and supporting actor/actress for the second year in a row.
Fans responded to the Oscar nominations by going on Twitter and voicing their frustration using the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite:
Err Creed, Beasts of no nation & Compton came out last year- yet no black nominees? Hollywood & it’s #OscarsSoWhite sequel
— Media Diversified (@WritersofColour) January 14, 2016
Chris Rock is going to have a field day with this. ? #Oscars #OscarsSoWhite
— ?ecca (@MJStarLover) January 14, 2016
These Oscar nominations are so white, if they murdered ten people they’d be “misunderstood, disturbed loners”. #OscarsSoWhite
— David A Hill Jr (@machineiv) January 14, 2016
#OscarsSoWhite none of these 9 talented actors/actresses got #OscarNoms for their incredible performances. pic.twitter.com/h4MYQIQLJH
— Steven Cash (@Welcome2Rebirth) January 14, 2016
Me, searching for Black nominees #OscarsSoWhite pic.twitter.com/Lowx0dKyaN
— Not That Phoenix (@ThePhenom007) January 14, 2016
For the second year in a row, all 20 acting nominees are white. No #OscarNoms for Will Smith or Idris Elba. #OscarsSoWhite 2.0, some say.
— Joe Fryer (@joefryer) January 14, 2016
A five minute opening by brilliant Chris Rock will not make up for over 80 years of erasure of marginalized communities. #OscarsSoWhite
— April (@ReignOfApril) January 14, 2016
#OscarsSoWhite a non-white person would be more likely to win the powerball than be nominated for one
— sarah hagi (@geekylonglegs) January 14, 2016
Boycott the muthafuckin “Lily White” Oscars then. Chris Rock should decline hosting the bullshit. #OscarsSoWhite
— Carlton Beckford Doz (@CarltonDaDred) January 14, 2016
But, this should not come as a surprise as Oscar judges feared that another backlash was eminent.
Weeks before the list of Oscar nominations were revealed Hollywood executives were casting their ballots to whom they believe should be nominated for an Academy Award. That’s when a scathing report surfaced showing that some judges feared that Oscars are just another form of institutionalized racism.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “the biggest issue for many voters isn’t about who might be nominated but about the diversity of this year’s acting class.” The nominees’ overwhelming lack of diversity “came to define the Academy Awards so much that host Neil Patrick Harris opened the ceremony by quipping: ‘Tonight we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest. Sorry, brightest.’”
In fact, USC history professor Steve Ross tells the Los Angeles Times, “If it’s all-white again, nobody’s going to be happy and there might be a growing perception that the academy is out of touch.” In addition, another Oscar voter said, “I don’t see how you can nominate another group that doesn’t include any actor of color and think you’ll be taken seriously.”
At the end of the day this should be a surprise. The actor, who was snubbed for playing Martin Luther King, Jr in Selma said that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the entire film industry, don’t enjoy making or celebrating movies about black protagonists unless the movies are told through the eyes of white people. Oyelowo says: “So you have a very nice white person who holds black people’s hands through their own narrative.”
With black men and women less likely to get cast in movies and TV shows and nine times more likely to get shot by police officers, many people are arguing for Chris Rock to boycott the Oscars.
Boycott the muthafuckin “Lily White” Oscars then. Chris Rock should decline hosting the bullshit. #OscarsSoWhite
— Carlton Beckford Doz (@CarltonDaDred) January 14, 2016
If we seriously want REAL change in Hollywood, we should unite & boycott them. Women + minorities = MAJORITY #OscarsSoWhite
— Oscars a Joke (@OscarsAJoke) January 14, 2016
Would it be too much to ask people of color in Hollywood to #boycott #oscars ? Think Montgomery 1955 solidarity #OscarsSoWhite
— CaliYalie (@CaliYalie) January 14, 2016
We should all just boycott the #Oscars2016 because they have proven time and time again that #OscarsSoWhite and FUCKED UP
— Ya Mama’s FavToy (@KissMyBlakGrits) January 14, 2016
Chris Rock should boycott the show like us viewers will. #OscarsSoWhite #BoycottOscars #BoycottABC https://t.co/ynS8KV3dt0
— Ivey McClelland (@iveyjanette_207) January 14, 2016
Y’all better boycott the Oscars. That’s all the fuck I got in tired #OscarsSoWhite
— Old Married Bitch (@Digichick40) January 14, 2016
