Over the course of 87 years, a minute 29 “Black” musicians, actors and actresses have won an Oscar. In 1940, Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. It has been 75 years since McDaniel’s triumph and to many, it seemed as if this “snowy” award season resembled those before her time. The way too short list of Black Oscar winners expanded by just two this year with Common and John Legend winning Best Original Song for “Glory” from Selma.
“It’s a white mans world, both the Grammy’s and the Oscars are simply a reflection of that,” said Ngina Shillingford, a senior anthropology and sociology major at Wesleyan University. “However, I think that if black artists and actors placed an emphasis on black award shows and invested in them the Grammy’s and Oscars would become less significant.”
Much of the outrage at this year’s Grammy’s came from Beck beating Beyoncé in the album of the year category for his folk album “Morning Phase.” This caused viewers to think that those that decide who receives what award have some sort of racial bias against black artists, which is unbelievable when artists such as Mackelmore and Iggy Azaela are nominated in hip-hop/ rap categories against some of today’s rap heavyweights and still prove triumphant. “White people are supposed to take care of their people first, see that’s the problem we just don’t,” said David Banner, rapper, producer, and actor turned activist, “I’m apart of the Grammy association. I am a voting member and I don’t go because that’s the way it supposed to be that’s their stuff. We need to start respecting our stuff.”
This anger and feeling of racial prejudice could also stem from the fact that “ethnic categories aren’t televised during these award shows,” said Jessica Robinson a graduating senior and business marketing major at Clark Atlanta University. “Everything in America has or has had a problem with race, this problem is much bigger than a few award shows,” said Allie Jones, a junior biology pre-med major at Armstrong University.
According to a 2012 University of Southern California study, led by communication professor Stacy L. Smith, “black actors accounted for 11.6 percent of the speaking roles” and “Latino actors accounted for 1.9 percent of speaking roles,” however, in Hollywood blacks and Latinos aren’t the only ethnic groups that are underrepresented.
Some would say that if minorities in the entertainment wanted to be recognized for their work they should begin with recognizing each other; others might also say that their aren’t any racial issues and that these shows are based of the quality of the album or film for example. Whatever the case may be, this year’s award season was judged harder because it took place during the current “civil rights” movement-taking place.
“It’s a white mans world, both the Grammy’s and the Oscars are simply a reflection of that,” said Ngina Shillingford, a senior anthropology and sociology major at Wesleyan University. “However, I think that if black artists and actors placed an emphasis on black award shows and invested in them the Grammy’s and Oscars would become less significant.”
Much of the outrage at this year’s Grammy’s came from Beck beating Beyoncé in the album of the year category for his folk album “Morning Phase.” This caused viewers to think that those that decide who receives what award have some sort of racial bias against black artists, which is unbelievable when artists such as Mackelmore and Iggy Azaela are nominated in hip-hop/ rap categories against some of today’s rap heavyweights and still prove triumphant. “White people are supposed to take care of their people first, see that’s the problem we just don’t,” said David Banner, rapper, producer, and actor turned activist, “I’m apart of the Grammy association. I am a voting member and I don’t go because that’s the way it supposed to be that’s their stuff. We need to start respecting our stuff.”
This anger and feeling of racial prejudice could also stem from the fact that “ethnic categories aren’t televised during these award shows,” said Jessica Robinson a graduating senior and business marketing major at Clark Atlanta University. “Everything in America has or has had a problem with race, this problem is much bigger than a few award shows,” said Allie Jones, a junior biology pre-med major at Armstrong University.
According to a 2012 University of Southern California study, led by communication professor Stacy L. Smith, “black actors accounted for 11.6 percent of the speaking roles” and “Latino actors accounted for 1.9 percent of speaking roles,” however, in Hollywood blacks and Latinos aren’t the only ethnic groups that are underrepresented.
Some would say that if minorities in the entertainment wanted to be recognized for their work they should begin with recognizing each other; others might also say that their aren’t any racial issues and that these shows are based of the quality of the album or film for example. Whatever the case may be, this year’s award season was judged harder because it took place during the current “civil rights” movement-taking place.