Special to the AmNews

The announcement for this year’s 87th Academy Awards nominations caused an almost immediate backlash from the African-American community over the lack of nominations for the civil rights film depicting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. “Selma” squeaked by with one win at the Golden Globe awards when Common and John Legend won for Best Original song. The Golden Globes recognized the film with seven nominations, but the Academy of Arts and Sciences did not follow suit, leaving the film snubbed, with only one nomination for Best Picture. Further points of contention are that every acting category contender is white and no women were nominated in the writing and director categories.

The “blacklash” has been swift and serious, as the media raced to examine the Academy’s reasoning for the snub. What may be the strongest sting is that the president of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, is the first African-American to hold the position.

Isaacs told the Associated Press, “In the last two years, we’ve made greater strides than we ever have in the past toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization through admitting new members and more inclusive classes of members. And, personally, I would love to see and look forward to see a greater cultural diversity among all our nominees in all of our categories.”

In a story examining the issue, The New York Times said, “Over the last several years, the Academy has been 93 percent white, 76 percent male who averaged at 63 years old.” It wouldn’t be a shock that no one is surprised by these statistics, and although “Selma” was nominated for Best Picture, the entertainment community, including journalists and fans, believe “Selma” was robbed and overshadowed by films like “American Sniper.”

Last year made history, as Black actors received an unprecedented number of nominations, wins and accolades. This year seems to be a deflation of the progress Black Hollywood experienced, and the Academy made an example of the unbalanced trends of the voting system. There is hope that Boone Isaacs will do a better job at leading the Academy in opening its doors and recruiting more diverse voters, and paying more attention to the ideals and behaviors of the people and organization she was hired to lead.