It’s hard to get anything trending with a hashtag these days, with Twitter now called X and social media an entirely different landscape.
But in 2016, #OscarsSoWhite was one of the most used phrases of the year, coined by journalist April Reign.
It became the pinnacle of the race row that enveloped the Oscars in 2015 and 2016 after two consecutive years of all 20 acting nominees being white. Selma, Straight Outta Compton, Beasts of No Nation, Creed and Concussion were among the films that were notably shut out of nominations in those years despite being widely acclaimed and certifiably tipped to get nods.
The fallout was immense.
Black celebrities such as Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Spike Lee and Whoopi Goldberg were particularly vocal about the lack of diversity, while George Clooney and Reese Witherspoon proved to be reliable allies by speaking out in support of the Black and brown acting community.
Unfortunately, the discussion also opened the door to unproductive commentary from the likes of Charlotte Rampling, who audaciously claimed that spotlighting the diversity issue was ‘racist against whites.’
Nonetheless, the movement quickly gathered momentum, prompting the Academy to take action amid the mounting calls for change. In January 2016, the US Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced plans for a major overhaul, aiming to double the number of women and ethnic minority members by 2020.
This year, with Sinners fully at the forefront of the Oscars landscape, it might feel like change has finally happened. The Ryan Coogler-directed horror has swept up incredibly, becoming the most-nominated film in Oscars history with 16.
Michael B Jordan has now become the favourite to win best actor for his dual role as twins Smoke and Stack, while Coogler is in the running for best director, and Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku are hoping to triumph in the best supporting categories.
But, is this real change, or is it all just smoke and mirrors?
The Oscars in 2017, a year after the outcry, were a signal of what change could look like and saw a sweeping improvement for Black talent. Moonlight ended the dry spell by winning best picture and best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali, while Viola Davis scooped best supporting actress for Fences. In total, that year, there were seven nominations for actors of colour.
There hasn’t quite been a total shut-out for actors of colour as we saw in 2016; instead, there have been some stunning wins. In 2021, British actor Daniel Kaluuya took home the best supporting actor for his performance in Judas and the Black Messiah, while Regina King won the trophy for best supporting actress after starring in If Beale Street Could Talk. Spike Lee scooped the adapted screenplay award for BlacKkKlansman that same year, while Will Smith was awarded best actor for King Richard, the fateful night he slapped Chris Rock.
Then, there were also the stunning scenes of 2020 when South Korean black comedy Parasite picked up the dynamic duo of best picture and best director for Bong Joon-ho, along with several other smaller categories.
However, we have also witnessed some pretty confusing snubs.
Denzel Washington was everyone’s favourite to get a nomination for his campy turn as the villain in Gladiator II, but bizarrely received zero acclaim, and Viola Davis received much hype around The Woman King in 2022, with predictions that she would receive a nod – alas, she didn’t. However, it should be noted that she did take the best supporting actress win for Fences in 2017. The Piano Lesson (2024) and Hard Truths (2025) were also strangely overlooked entirely, despite previously being shoo-ins for the Golden Man and your typical dramatic Oscar bait.
On the other hand, there was also the divisive decision to platform Emilia Perez for 13 nominations in 2024, despite the controversies surrounding the Netflix film and it being described as ‘one of the worst films ever.’ The musical drama came under fire due to its representation of Mexican culture and lead star Karla Sofía Gascón’s string of resurfaced offensive tweets. Zoe Saldaña won best supporting actress for her performance in the film, but given the murky drama surrounding the picture, it didn’t exactly feel like a win for diversity.
With that in mind, it feels like a few steps forward but still a lot of learning to do. Many are hopeful that Sinners will be the perfect palette cleanser of the Oscars’ previously tragic history of inclusion, but that is a lot of pressure to put on one film in one year, even if it does sensationally clean up as it’s expected to.
At the height of #OscarsSoWhite a decade ago, Whoopi Goldberg asked: ‘Why is this a conversation that we only have once a year? Because every year we get all fired up and then the rest of the year no one says anything.’
Well, the Academy has made some efforts in improving diversity during the interim months and years, with women now outnumbering men on the Academy’s Board of Governors, according to the BBC. Research conducted by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative showed that in the eight years before #OscarsSoWhite, only 8% of Oscar nominees were people of colour. By 2023, that number had risen to 17%.
So one small step for the Oscars, one giant leap for mankind (or whatever Neil Armstrong said).
All eyes will be on the Academy this year to see if their diversity sweep will really impact the outcome of the wins – and what more can be done in the future.
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