Oscars should reflect America’s diversity

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences appropriately was called on the Oscars’ red carpet over nominating only white actors for the second straight year.

Black filmmaker Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith said this week that they would not attend the Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 28. The announcement and calls for a boycott for the continuing lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations were underscored as the nation celebrated the national holiday for the birthday of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Timing was not on Hollywood’s side. The nominations were announced Jan. 14, and the Academy Awards are set to be broadcast on the last Sunday of Black History Month. The excuse that no actors of color met the criteria doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Certainly some Oscar contenders appeared in the films “Straight Outta Compton,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Concussion” and “Creed.”

The exclusion this year occurs at a particularly distressing time. The Black Lives Matter movement has been embraced nationwide and on college campuses over racist incidents and after police killings of several unarmed African-Americans. Too many people of color in all walks of life are feeling unarmed and vulnerable.

Fortunately, the cries for change have not fallen on deaf ears. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the first African-American president in the history of the academy, said Monday that she was “heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion.”

The academy’s governing board is to meet Tuesday and review some likely changes intended to make the selection process more inclusive. The New York Times reports that the adjustments could include broadening the nominees and changing the academy’s membership in which older white males dominate.

“This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes,” Isaacs said. Important, yes, because the U.S. rapidly is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse.

All aspects of the media should accurately reflect the country’s population. Historically the media have done a poor job, and that includes awards for exemplary work by people of color.

“In 2016, the mandate is inclusion in all of its facets: gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation,” Isaacs said.

The first step always is to recognize that the academy has a problem. With the right people involved, workable solutions are possible.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Oscars should reflect America’s diversity."