You’d Be Shocked by the Oscar’s Secret Racial Agenda

Even though the US has made leaps and bounds in regards to racism, there are still a few remaining industries that have failed to adapt to the change, and it’s not necessarily the industry’s fault. Let me explain.

The Academy Awards, hosted yearly by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is one such example of this lingering racial segregation. The Oscars, as they’re more commonly known as, first began as a radio program in 1930 and then progressed to the television in 1953 during the consumerism boon of the ‘50’s. There’s no coincidence the Academy Awards is the oldest entertainment awards ceremony and still holds onto outdated racial issues. I believe there to also be a connection to the fact that The Oscars were founded during the civil rights movement of the 1950s. So what specifically is the issue with The Oscars?

THE ISSUE:

Of the 1,663 nominations from 4 acting categories, only 65 came from Black backgrounds, 26 from Hispanic, and 8 from other nationalities. It’s scary to think that this isn’t even referring to just the Academy winners, but is based out of the total nominations in The Oscar’s history. This is obviously an issue as there are many distinguished African or other ethnic directors being entirely disregarded. But why is this the case? In an investigation done by the Los Angeles Times in 2012, they found that 94% of Academy voters were white, and 77% were men. And just two years later they did similar investigation to see if the soaring percentage had dropped at all—It hadn’t, remaining at a strikingly high 93%. But if not the common people, then who actually are these voters? To become a member of the academy, you must be invited by a board of governors from one of the 17 branches that range from directing and acting to public relations.

There are obviously a lot of minorities speaking out against this injustice, but the loudest voice against this “white-out” has been from the African American community. Black Directors and artist in films like, “Creed”, “Straight Outta Compton”, “Beasts of No Nation” and “Concussion” all went unrecognized.

And there are more films coming out in 2017:

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Set to release: December 16, 2016)

This new Star Wars film will feature not only a unique female role with Felicity Jones as the main character, but also a strongly diverse cast including Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Donnie Yen, and Forest Whitaker among the cast.

Sleight (Set to release: April 7, 2017)

Another film with a lot of potential to push The Oscars out of this “white-out” would be the film Sleight by African-American director J.D. Dillard. The film premiered to a select audience at Sundance and received excellent reviews.

Any one who had the privilege of viewing these films already released to the public could agree that they had a place at minimal on the award nominations, if not actually winning the award. And where were the women nominees? Or nominees from the Latino community? Much was lacking and change is most evidently needed.

In an interview with Variety.com, Stephanie Allain, the L.A. Film Festival Chief as well as producer of movies such as “Hustle & Flow,” said that, “Diversity does not just happen… you have to have the intention to make it happen. You have to talk about it. And then you have to walk the walk”. With this advice in mind, we must respond to this injustice in the same way all racial matters seem to be resolved—by flooding the industry with our cry for racial and sexual equality. If enough voices say no, eventually, (and it will take time especially in old organizations such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) change will happen.

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.