“The numbers are troubling still in the prestigious Academy Awards. Only three black men have won awards in the Best Leading Actor category from 1958 to 2013, and only one black woman, Halle Berry in 2001 for her role in Monster’s Ball, has ever won the award for Best Leading Actress.
Despite the praise and success of these films, there is still a major problem in representation of black talent in Hollywood. The main issue is that they are casted for roles that are racially limiting in nature rather than what The Huffington Post’s Senior Editor Kia Makarechi calls “non-racially coded characters.” 12 Years, Fruitvale, Mandela, and The Butler demand black actors to fill in black roles.
…”
Community Village‘s insight:
The lack of racial diversity in Hollywood is more evidence of discrimination in employment, which in turn keeps those salaries out of the hands of people of color.
It’s 2014 now and it seems each ethnic group needs to create it’s own industry of careers in order to get full employment. But even then, it’s still the mass media and the big budget blockbusters where the bigger money is, so the discrimination and favoritism is a form of oppression.