Thread by @michaelharriot

A lot of people believe #OscarsSoWhite means the Oscar voters are racist.

I don't.

In fact, I'd argue that the Oscars are colorblind.

A thread.

Have you ever heard someone insist that they "don't see color?"

NEVER trust anyone who says that. "Not seeing color" is NOT the OPPOSITE of racism. It is the literal manifestation of white supremacy.

Here's a secret you should know:

Given the choice, most people wouldn't trade their race or ethnicity for anything in the world. Whiteness is not a thing that most nonwhite people aspire to become.

I love being Black. It is part of my history and my culture. It defines me.

In a perfect world, I could be Black AND have access to all of the rights and privileges afforded to me. Being Black doesn't prevent me from having access to that. White supremacy does.

The only reason ANYONE would wish to be white is if they believed switching skin colors would help them overcome some of the barriers that white supremacy created.

The true goal should be to eliminate white supremacy

When someone says "I don't see color," they're really saying: "The only way I can even conceive that you are equal to me is if I subconsciously erase your history, culture & skin color. Otherwise, I only see an almost-human, Black thing."

Imagine how racist someone must be if the only way they can acknowledge someone's humanity is by creating a hypothetical scenario where their brain can't process the information from their retinas.

Basically, it's a game of "the skin is lava."

But it's real.

Black people have only won 5.5 percent (20 of 362) of Oscars’ major awards (Best Actor or Actress; Best Supporting Actor or Actress; Best Director; Best Picture; Best Original Screenplay or Best Adapted Screenplay).

Black actors or filmmakers have only been nominated for 3.6 percent of the Oscars in these categories (63 of 1,764).

This doesn't include the 2021 noms (Yes, I checked.)

thegrapevine.theroot.com/how-to-win-an-…

I have a theory that the reason Black actors and filmmakers don't receive awards nominations is that white voters see white actors playing superheroes and doctors and lawyers and heroes and villains.

On the other hand, Black actors are just Black people playing Black people

How hard can that be?

The only way to get recognition is to be white adjacent or to make white people cry because WHITE PEOPLE CAN'T SEE COLOR. If a Black actor isn't white adjacent they don't exist.

Typically, even successful black movies don't get huge white audiences because, for some reason, White people REFUSE TO SEE COLOR.

(There are actually studies on this)

colorlines.com/articles/study…

Black people will watch The Godfather and New Jack City. They'll go see Black Panther and Avengers. They watch One Night in Miami and Goodfellas.

But here's the thing:

No one thinks of white movies as "white movies." They're just movies BECAUSE THEY DON'T SEE COLOR.

Why isn't there a "white movies" category on Netflix filled with Adam Sandler films and that Oscar-winning movie about the woman who wanted to fuck a fish? There was a whole white movie about a white boy who grew up.

Seriously, that was the ENTIRE PLOT. He grew up. That's it.

OK, I'll admit. Very few Black people saw that movie.

In 2015, that movie, "Boyhood" was in the SAME CATEGORY for Best Picture as "Selma."

A movie about the struggle for voting rights, LITERALLY had to compete against a movie about a white kid existing.

Just existing.

Ultimately it's because black people can identify with human beings, and white people can't identify with anyone who isn't white.

Sounds like I'm making shit up, doesn't it?

TBH, I thought so, too. So I asked people. Who did I ask?

The same people who are reading this.

1500 people answered.

Black, Hispanic and non-white people had a RANGE of answers identifying with all kinds of characters.

The last time I counted, 6 white people said they identified with a character who wasn't white.

SIX.

Six, y'all.

So you may ask yourself: How do we fix this? How do we solve these inequities? Well, I have come up with a simple solution:

STOP CARING WHAT WHITE PEOPLE THINK.

They're LITERALLY TELLING US that the Oscars are for white people.

But it's not because they are racist.

It's because everyone else is invisible to them.

BECAUSE they "don't see color."