Actors Criticize 'White' Oscars for Lack of Diversity

Actors Criticize 'White' Oscars for Lack of Diversity

The Academy Awards ceremony is Hollywood’s biggest night of the year for actors and filmmakers. But this year, some are refusing to attend the ceremony. They are calling for a boycott¹.  

They are boycotting² the event because of the lack of diversity among the nominees³ for Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. 

All 20 people nominated for acting⁴ awards this year are white. Last year, all of the acting nominees were white, as well.

Actor Jada Pinkett Smith is leading the Oscars boycott. She asked that others join her as a way to express outrage⁵ that no African-American actors were nominated for an Academy Award.

Director Spike⁶ Lee has also said he and his wife would not attend the Oscars. He complained on social media about “another all white ballot⁷.” 

Don Cheadle, who won a best actor Oscar in 2004 for the film Hotel Rwanda, tweeted a joke about only being allowed to park cars at the Oscars.

Chris Rock is hosting the Academy Awards ceremony on February 28th. An African-American actor himself, Rock has been pressured by black entertainers to step down from the hosting job.

Lack of diversity for the second straight year

This marks the second straight year that people have voiced concern about the lack of diversity among Oscar nominees.

The nominees are chosen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The president of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, is African-American. She released a statement this week addressing the lack of diversity.

Isaacs expressed her “heartbreak” and “frustration” over the lack of African-Americans and other minorities among this year’s acting nominees.

She said in the statement that this lack of diversity is “a difficult but important conversation and it is time for big changes.”

Pinkett-Smith posted a message on social media about the Isaacs’ statement. She tweeted: 'I would like to express my gratitude⁸ to the Academy, specifically Cheryl Boone Isaacs, for such a quick response in regard to the issue at hand. I look forward to the future.”

Pinkett-Smith has received support in her Oscar boycott from her husband, actor Will Smith. Smith told ABC News he would not attend the Academy Awards. Will Smith did not get nominated this year for his work in the movie Concussion⁹. 

But one African-American actor, Janet Hubert, does not support Pinkett-Smith’s Oscar boycott. Hubert starred with Will Smith in the 1990s television show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Hubert criticized Pinkett-Smith in a four-minute video. She said: “I find it ironic¹⁰ that somebody who has made...millions and millions of dollars from the very people you’re talking about boycotting, just because you didn’t get a nomination¹¹."

Hubert's video has been viewed over 2.5 million times on YouTube.

Pinkett-Smith responded to the criticism. She said in a video shared by Entertainment Tonight that “this whole Oscar controversy¹² isn’t really about the Oscars.” She continued by saying that “right now, specifically with African-American people, we have some very serious issues that I think we as a people have to move together on.” 

Lack of diversity in the Academy

Some say the diversity issue in Hollywood begins with the Academy itself.

The Los Angeles Times sampled more than 5,000 of the Academy’s 5,765 members in 2012. Ninety-four percent of the members of the Academy were white.

One Academy member is two-time Oscar winner Russell Williams II. He earned two Oscars in Sound Mixing. Williams is African-American and a voting member of the Academy. In other words, he plays a role in selecting Oscar nominees.

He said the makeup¹³ of the Academy itself should better represent the U.S. population. But he said it would not be easy to diversify¹⁴ the Academy. Members are elected for life. All Academy members have to be either Oscar nominees or winners themselves, or have extensive experience in a movie field.

Long history of lack of diversity

The 2015 and 2016 Oscars are far from the only years to suffer from a lack of diversity in acting categories. Throughout the Oscars’ 92-year-history, 95 percent of Oscar nominees have been white.

Since 2000, 10 percent of Oscar nominations¹⁵ have gone to black actors. Blacks represent 12.6 percent of the American population, says a report on race and film in The Economist¹⁶.

But the lack of diversity in Hollywood concerns all minorities. Since 2000, just 3 percent of nominations have gone to Hispanic actors. The Hispanic population is 16 percent of the U.S. population. And only 1 percent of acting nominations have gone to actors with Asian backgrounds.

Gil Robertson is the President of the African American Film Critics Association. He told Reuters that he believes the diversity issue begins in the film studio system.

He said, "It's a definite problem. You can walk across the campuses of all the studios and never really see anyone of color and it's something that the industry needs to correct.” 

Robertson pointed¹⁷ to the new “Star Wars” movie as a sign of Hollywood making those corrections. He noted¹⁸ that the three leads are a white actor, a black actor, and an Hispanic actor. 

He said "There's something a little mechanical when you set about it like that, but at least they're heading in the right direction, and other films must follow, and will, if they want to capture those audiences."

Words in This Story 

diversity - n. the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization

outrage - n. extreme anger?

host - v. to entertain guests and audiences during an awards show

entertainer - n. a professional performer

address - v.  to give attention to (something) ?

heartbreak - n. a very strong feeling of sadness or disappointment?

conversation - n. the act of talking in an informal way

regard - n. care or concern for someone or something — often +for or to

ironic - adj. using words that mean the opposite of what you really think especially in order to be funny?

sample - v. to test, study, or question (a group of people or things taken from a larger group) to get information

mechanical - adj.  done without thought or without any effort to be different or interesting

1 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

2 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

3 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

7 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

8 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

9 concussion   

n.脑震荡；震动

参考例句：

• He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。
• She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

10 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

11 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

12 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

13 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

14 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

15 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

16 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

17 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

18 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。