Kerry Washington could make TV history at Emmy Awards

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A Hollywood first

Before Tyson, who earned her nod for Sweet Justice in 1995, Taylor was nominated in 1993 for I’ll Fly Away, and Woodard in 1986 for St. Elsewhere.

While there has been a black winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – Isabel Sanford in The Jeffersons in 1981 – the last nominee in that category was Phylicia Rashad in 1986 for The Cosby Show.

Nededog predicts Washington will not win this year because the Academy may wait to honor her, but he acknowledges the current buzz factor surrounding the star.

As Scandal’s successors demonstrate, the character of Olivia Pope alone does not quantify achievement, Washington’s performance does.

“It’s Hollywood trying to repeat the winning formula,” says Nededog. “They see this African-American lead in Scandal doing really well, and say let’s replicate it with Deception. Of course that didn’t work because, when it comes down to it, I really do think people watch Scandal without even realizing the races involved. If you look at the cast, it’s diverse race-wise, but also religion and sexuality and all that kind of stuff and I think a lot of that falls away for most people when they’re watching. Just the formula of having a minority women in a lead role doesn’t always work.”

Murray agrees, pointing out the complexity and multi-dimensionality of Olivia Pope.

Granted the show took a season to find its groove, Washington certainly led the dance.

“I didn’t love Scandal when I started watching it that first season,” Murray admits. “If she would have gotten the nomination last year, it would have been very blatantly, ‘Oh, we’ve got to give the nomination to a black person.’ What I love about her nomination this time around, it’s because of the quality of her work.”

Changing the image of African-American women

Yet there’s no denying the impact that Washington, Rhimes and Olivia Pope have had on network TV, and in turn, African-American women.

Academy voters love the narrative behind the candidate, says Whipp, who calls it a “great opportunity for people to make history.”

To a certain extent, history has already been made.

“I’m so glad that Kerry is showing them that this can be done, and she’s not whitewashing it,” says Murray. “She’s not the typical African-American character that has been portrayed in TV and film. Whether it be the golddigger, the jezebel…especially now, this ratchetness. She’s an educated woman. She’s got problems. She fixes them. Sometimes she makes smart choices, sometimes she makes bad choices…She dresses her a** off. She’s changing the image of African-American women.”

Clayton adds, “What it really reflects is an effort to stay on this path, to continue to see black people and people of color as humans before anything else. But as for where we really are, we definitely aren’t there yet. If a black woman actually had an affair with the president of the United States, you’d better believe there’d be a huge racial component to the discussion surrounding it.”

Follow Courtney Garcia on Twitter at @CourtGarcia