The Oscars – Diversity Gone Ludicrous

In this day and age, what was once considered incredible no longer is.  A billionaire TV reality star leads the GOP race for president, a declared socialist is bested Hillary Clinton in Iowa and the liberal Hollywood establishment is accused of racism.

Can you imagine?  Some prominent black actors, such as Will Smith, have blasted the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences for the past two year’s absence of nominees of color from the list of candidates of major awards.

Although the term has not been used, the clear implication of this criticism is that race was used as a selection criterion.  The lack of “color” diversity among the chosen has been cited.

The irony that the Academy is accused of prejudice against blacks is hard to escape.  This organization has long been notorious for its leftist orientation where politics is concerned.  It does represent the attitudes of Hollywood’s elite who have, for instance, been staunch supporters of America’s first black president.

 

Interestingly, the accusation that black nominees have been slighted in recent years is simply false.

From 2004 – 2014, for instance, blacks were nominated by Academy members at the rate of 9.5% for the slots available for the top Oscars:  best actor/actress and best supporting actor/actress.  And during that period  twelve and a half percent actually won the coveted trophy.

Yet the knee-jerk liberals who run the Academy didn’t mount a defense based on these facts.  No, they caved as if to be accused is tantamount to guilt.

 

The Academy solemnly promised to rectify the claimed racial deficiencies by adding further diversity to its membership and leadership.

What silliness!  Isn’t it far more likely that Hollywood liberals choose nominees based on merit alone?  Academy members certainly should know something of acting quality.  And, to the extent politics enters into the process – which it undoubtedly does – it is of a leftward variety.  (But why should those whites expressing sympathy for victims of so-called white racism be immune from the attacks of race hustlers?)  And, dealing with facts that are so conveniently ignored by such people, what conclusions are to be drawn from the fact that in 2006, five nominees in the key Oscar categories were black (25%).  Was it reverse discrimination?

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