Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to take home a little gold statue when she won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Gone with the Wind back in 1939. Another 300 Oscars have been awarded since then, but only 13 have gone to black actors and actresses. That’s out of 47 total black nominees.
Unfortunately this year’s pool of acting Oscar nominees isn’t winning any awards for diversity, with the exception of True Grit nominee Hattie Steinfield, who claims black and Filipino ancestry.
It begs the question: why, in 2011, are the Oscars still so white? The Grio’s Jeff Johnson asked one-time nominee, and member of theGrio’s 100 Class of 2011 Viola Davis what she thinks.
WATCH VIOLA DAVIS’ REACTION TO OSCAR DIVERSITY HERE
