Earlier this week the Academy released its list of Oscar nominees and every single acting nominee and writing is white. Though the news was entirely depressing, it wasn’t exactly a surprise; last year’s nominees were also nearly all white, leading to the social media hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
But alas, despite the criticism, the Academy made little effort to rectify the problem. Even Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the Academy’s first black president, was said she was “disappointed,” by the lack of representation. Referencing Creed and Straight Outta Compton, the New York Times notes, “the only Academy nods for two of the year’s biggest films about African-American characters went to white people.”