It's 2020 and the Oscars are whiter than ever.
The number of black nominees for the prestigious award show has hit a three-year low, Variety reports. Just five black people were nominated for Oscars in 2020.
The number was at its highest in 2017, when 18 black people were nominated. That year, a record six black actors were nominated, including Denzel Washington and Viola Davis for Fences. In 2018, 13 black people were nominated. That year saw Jordan Peele's Get Out nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director, and the film's star, Daniel Kaluuya, nominated for Best Actor. Last year, 15 were nominated.
Cynthia Erivo, who portrayed the legendary abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet, is the only nonwhite actor nominated this year. The other black nominees are Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver, whose short Hair Love will be in the best animated short category, Joshuah Brian Campbell, up for best song for "Stand Up (From Harriet)," and Les Misérables director Ladj Ly for best international feature.
"It feels a bit like I’ve got a responsibility to represent all the people of color who have done incredible work this year because I do believe we’ve had some brilliant films made, shows come out this year and brilliant direction and writers,” Erivo told Variety. “I want hopefully for this to serve as an example as to why we need to start celebrating people of color as well — really paying attention to how we vote for them and how we vote for the people who are nominated. We need to see some changes."
Some Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences members tried to explain the snubs this month. We'll leave it up to you to decide if you agree.
