Saturday, January 17, 2015

Black Actors Matter: Affirmative Action Needed for the Academy Awards?

This year's Academy Award nominations are out and the race-baiting Al Sharpton is mad.  For the first time in 17 years, not one black actor or actress was nominated for an Oscar, and Sharpton is calling for emergency action against the Academy.  Whatever that means. 

Are we now supposed to believe that there should be affirmative action quotas for the Academy Awards?  The way Sharpton is acting, it appears there should be at least one or two black actors or actresses nominated; even if there are better performances by white performers.  After all, blacks make up 13% or the population.  Therefore, out of the ten nominations for Best Actor or Actress, there should be at least 1.3 blacks nominated each year; and, another 1.3 blacks nominated for the best male/female supporting performances. Otherwise, the 5,800 members of the Academy are all a bunch of racists.

I think 17 straight years of nominating blacks is an excellent record for a process that is extremely subjective and elitist by its very nature.  What does Sharpton want?  Should one or two of the current nominees be booted off so that a black or two can be inserted in their places.  Are we now going to have national protests and a demonstation on Oscar night with signs saying: "Black Actors Matter".  Is Sharpton also going to demand to be involved in the nomination process; much like he forced Sony to agree that he will oversee the content of the movies they make? And, what about Hispanics?   They make up 17% of our population and, they too, were snubbed in the acting categories.  Should we now have at least 2 blacks and 3 Hispanics as nominees in all 20 acting categories each year?

This whole thing with Al Sharpton trying to paint America as a pre-1960's racist country is getting extremely ridiculous and tiring.  He is literally running crazy all over the place fighting assumed racism.  Of course, all of this is, and has been, increasingly fueled by the fact that President Obama has certified Sharpton as his go-to-guy for all things race.  But, this Obama/Sharpton relationship has backfired by making racial tensions worse.  A fact that too many polls point out. If someone "cries wolf" too often, people stop listening.  Then, if real racism does show up somewhere, nobody will care.

References:

The Whitest Oscars Since 1998: Why the Selma Snubs Matter: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/15/the-whitest-oscars-since-1998-why-the-selma-snubs-matter.html

Al Sharpton Calls For Emergency Meeting To Address 'Appalling' All-White Oscar Nominees: http://www.businessinsider.com/al-sharpton-blasts-appalling-oscars-2015-1

Academy Awards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awards

Sharpton to have say over how Sony makes movies: http://nypost.com/2014/12/18/sharpton-to-have-say-over-how-sony-makes-movies/

Race relations worse under Obama, poll finds | TheHill: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/226262-race-relations-worse-under-obama-poll-says

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