TO THE EDITOR:
The uniqueness surrounding the Oscars controversy is that something actually happened when people spoke up. We, the students of Chapel Hill, should be taking notes. In the past 10 years, about 9 percent of all acting nominees have been black. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, that almost exactly matches not only the black North American movie audience in 2014 (12 percent), but also the overall percentage of black people in the United States (13 percent). Still, the number of black “frequent moviegoers” is declining, films that have “black casts” struggle to receive funding in Hollywood and minorities as whole — who constitute 46 percent of America’s box office ticket sales — are grossly underrepresented by major studios and pop culture publications.
To me, and to millions of others, it is clear there is a problem. The same holds for the related, equally important conflicts facing this campus and campuses all across the country.
But the difference is in the dialogue.
Jada Smith called for people of color to acknowledge their own power and take a step back from “the mainstream.” But in the same breath, she wished the Academy “nothing but love.”
Michael Moore, white director and producer, chimed in within 48 hours: It’s an industry that’s so white and so male.
George Clooney, white actor and two-time Oscar recipient, said we were doing a better job 10 years ago than we are today.
Mark Ruffalo, a white actor nominated for a supporting role, cited Martin Luther King Jr.: “The good people who don’t act are much worse than the wrongdoers.”
Do you realize how terrified I would be, as a white person on this campus, to invoke the words of MLK?
