Racism at the Oscars

So shortly after the nominations came out, someone noticed that almost everyone was white. Suspiciously non diverse. And accusations of racism quickly started movements in social media.
So here is my take on it:

Of course they academy is racist! All the nominations are decided by a bunch of old white guys. Many aren't actively racist. They don't say anything racist or express that they are superior in any way. But everyone has that grandpa, or uncle, or someone who constantly makes racist slips but denies any prejudice. They don't think themselves superior and would never made a comment based on someones race. But because they were raised in an environment where it was acceptable and even encouraged, they subconsiously factor race into decisions, and sometimes its enough to make a difference. For example, who gets the job? who do you accept into the college? who do you trust? and most relevant, who do you nominate for an award?

I personally know several people who have a hidden prejudice. They are good people and only want whats right, but their judgement is clouded. I feel like that is what has happened in the academy. Collectively, enough of them expressed a slight preference towards white people and that was reflected in the official nominations. That's what I pin this up to. No one did it with malice in their heart.

So the next step is what to do about it. Well, i can tell you this much, you will never change the world on twitter. You actually have to do something in the real world at some point. Tweeting and hash tagging that you are upset isn't going to fix anything.

I'm not saying that social media movements aren't useful. They can be critical to the start up of something and can bring lots of awareness to it. But being aware isn't going to solve anything and at some point you have to put your phone down and do something.

But in this particular situation, there isn't much that anyone can do. The academy is only for awards as far as we're concerned. You have no power over them, none of us do. Any real change would have to come from the inside. From someone important enough to kick people out and bring new people in. As it stands no one can do anything. Honestly, the best thing we can do is wait for the old racists to die out. It sounds horrible and slow, but its sometimes the fastest that change can happen.

But what about in the mean time? All the poor black people not getting the awards they deserve! This is a dick thing to say but.. suck it up. If the Academy is racist then why do you care if they like you? In the end its just a dumb award. It's important but it really doesn't matter in the scheme of things. You're a damn movie star, you're set for life, chill about the award. And compared to other race related issues in America right now, a little golden trophy doesn't count for jack shit. Police shoot unarmed black men at 4 times the rate as white men. That matters a hell of a lot more than not getting nominated for an Oscar.