Oscars, Racism and Black Performers in Bollywood

China Daily has published an interesting in-depth report (courtesy of Reuters) with the heading:

Oscars spark renewed questions of race in Hollywood

Race is a big matter in USA and who can forget the matter that until 1865 slavery existed legally in the US. Even 5-6 decades ago, the black people had to struggle under the leadership of Martin Luther King for equality. It seems that the black people may have won everywhere but in Hollywood they are still neglected. I am quoting from the report:

No black person has ever been named best director.

Race bias will affect Oscar politics as long as it plays a role in U.S. culture, Oscar watchers said. "Race will go away from the Academy when race goes away from America," said David Poland of MovieCityNews.com.

Poland is one of many observers who said he did not believe race played a part in "Dreamgirls" failing to land in the best film category despite gaining eight nominations overall, more than any other movie.

Since the January 23 nominations, several theories have outweighed racial bias when it came to the "Dreamgirls" snub, according to Oscar pundits, film historians and critics.

"Dreamgirls" did not get nomination but the controversy is still going on. Tradionally, the black performers have been overlooked when it comes to giving Academy Awards. The report also stated:

Hattie McDaniel was the first black to win an acting Oscar -- for supporting actress in 1939's "Gone with the Wind." The second was not until Sidney Poitier received the best actor nod for 1963's "Lilies of the Field, and the third took almost another two decades -- Louis Gossett Jr.'s supporting actor nod for 1982's "An Officer and a Gentleman."

Just a handful of supporting actor and actress nods followed, until 2002, when Hollywood thought that the Academy had put the race issue behind it. That year, Denzel Washington won best actor for "Training Day" and Halle Berry was named best actress for "Monster's Ball."

It was the first time black Americans won the top two acting awards in the same year. Three years after Washington's and Berry's dual wins, Jamie Foxx scored a best actor victory for his role as soul singer Ray Charles in 2004's "Ray," and last year the drama "Crash," which explores race in America, was named best film.

So, you can see that Black actors and actresses in Hollywood had to wait until 2002 to get some decent recognition. May be they will have to wait another 30-40 years to get their true recognition.