Actress, Lupita Nyong’o, is the latest celebrity to comment on the lack of diversity at the 2016 Oscars.
The 12 Years a Slave star, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2013, shared her views on social media on Tuesday.
She wrote , “I am disappointed by the lack of inclusion in this year’s Academy Awards nominations. It has me thinking about unconscious prejudice and what merits prestige in our culture. The Awards should not dictate the terms of art in our modern society, but rather be a diverse reflection of the best of what our art has to offer today.”
Giving support to other celebrities who have come out to question the Oscars, she added, “I stand with my peers who are calling for change in expanding the stories that are told and recognition of the people who tell them.”
The 32-year-old also shared a quote by novelist James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
For the second year running, no black or minority actors have been nominated in the four Oscars acting categories.
Because of this, a number of celebrities are refusing to attend the February 28 ceremony.
Oscar-winning actor, George Clooney, has accused the Academy Awards of “moving in the wrong direction”.
Actress, Jada Pinkett Smith has also refused to attend because of the number of white nominees, saying in a video message on Facebook that people of colour should disregard the awards.
Director, Spike Lee, who was awarded an honorary Oscar in November, is among those boycotting the ceremony, saying on Instagram that he “cannot support” the “lily white” Oscars.
Even Academy president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, addressed the organisation’s diversity issue late Monday. “I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees,” she said in a statement. “While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes.”
She continued, “The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond. As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years. But the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly.”
“In the ’60s and ’70s, it was about recruiting younger members to stay vital and relevant. In 2016, the mandate is inclusion in all of its facets: gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. We recognize the very real concerns of our community, and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together,” she said.
