The Oscars Set A New Record For Black Winners Last Night
Last night the Oscars succeeded in setting a new record for total number of black winners in a single night, but the depressing thing is, it only took five wins to score that victory.
Seriously, there have never been more than five black winners at a single Oscars.
READ ALSO: They Actually Just Read the Wrong Name for Best Picture At The Oscars
And the saddest thing is, this isn’t even a surprising statistic when you really think about it.
In 2016 the Oscars were so white there wasn’t even a single black actor being considered for a golden statuette.
Hell, until last night, no more than one black actor at a time had won an acting award since 2007.
This is the first time since 2007 that more than one black actor has won a competitive #Oscar on the same night. https://t.co/PQJJjiFVo5
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) February 27, 2017
But setting the Academy Award’s history of racism for just a second — don’t worry, we’ll get back to it — let’s take a moment to actually celebrate what did happen last night.
Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney won Best Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight.
Viola Davis snatched the Best Supporting Actress trophy, making her the FIRST EVER black woman to win an Oscar, a Tony and an Emmy for acting. (Whoopi Goldberg’s got all three plus a Grammy, but not exclusively for acting.)
Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor, making him the FIRST EVER black Muslim actor to win an Oscar.
Ezra Edelman won Best Documentary Feature alongside filmmaker Caroline Waterlow.
And on top of all that, not only was there a black nominee in every acting category, but for the first time in history this year, there were three black nominees in a single acting category.
READ ALSO: 3 Black Women Are Nominated In 1 Oscar Category For the First Time
So all pessimism aside, last night was an important night for the Oscars, representing just how much progress one antiquated awards show can make in the course of a year.
Was it depressing it took the Oscars until 2017 to get this far?
100%.
Was it uplifting enough to restore your faith in award shows?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But at least they got there.
YOOOOO THE SEASON FINALE OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH IS SO LIT
— Tyler R. Tynes (@TylerRickyTynes) February 27, 2017
Now let’s just cross our fingers that a full year in Trump’s America doesn’t send the Oscars back to their so-white roots in 2018.
