This year the Academy nominated all white actors for the Oscars.
The decision — much like last year’s — has sparked a multitude of responses on social media with a plethora of hashtags, such as #OscarsSoWhite, #drama, #seriouslythough, #OscarsStillSoWhite.
Some of the responders were celebrities.
An outspoken critic was Jada Pinkett-Smith who insisted that she would neither support nor attend the awards show.
“At the Oscars . . . people of color are always welcome to give out awards . . . even entertain, but we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments,” said Pinkett-Smith on Facebook and Twitter.
Pinkett-Smith’s husband, Will Smith, as well as other black actors were predicted to be contenders but were ultimately not chosen.
While Pinkett-Smith’s protest not to attend the awards show was established to directly address a lack of diversity within the Academy Awards, her comments seemed to spark a heated reaction from other black celebrities.
Particularly, actress Janet Hubert disagreed with Pinkett-Smith’s motives as to why she was suddenly against supporting the Academy Awards.
Hubert, also known as “the dark-skinned Aunt Viv,” from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” insisted that Pinkett-Smith was overreacting merely because her husband was not nominated for his role in “Concussion,” Smith’s recent film.
If Will Smith was an Oscar nominee, there would be no protest from the Smiths, Hubert said.
Pinkett-Smith responded that the reality of the Oscars is not a black versus white issue but instead should be a force for the black community to showcase their own films with black actors who address social conditions that take place in their communities.
Personally, I am not excited about watching the Oscars.
In response to the controversy over the Oscars, the argument about a lack of diversity was overshadowed by the light skin versus. dark skin arguement in the black community.
This is seen directly in the black community’s nickname for Hubert.
The idea of “light skin versus dark skin” is not just skin deep; it divides the black community. And in the case of the Oscars, it served as a distraction against the first problem — a lack of diversity in the Academy Awards.
This is an issue that caused these celebrities not to focus on what the problem was but to revert back to an underlying issue that impacts the black community.
Who knew the #OscarsSoWhite would cause friction between black people.
#OscarsSoWhite Sparks Social Media Feuds
After this year's Oscar nominees were announced, controversy sparked on social media.
