Academy of Motion Picture Arts

Hollywood, it’s time to flip the script on diversity

For the second year in a row, no actor or actress of color has been nominated for an Academy Award. That is a shameful streak. But the growing outcry over the whitewashing of the prestigious golden statue and the industry it celebrates is a sign of at least some progress. There’s a new consciousness emerging. Twenty years ago when the Rainbow PUSH Coalition protested the almost total lack of Oscar diversity — only one out of 166 nominees was African American in 1996 — our efforts were met largely with indifference and ridicule by even some of the very minority