'Upholding whiteness': Black director slams Oscars after not being nominated for award

After failing to secure a nomination for the 95th Academy Awards, "Till" director Chinonye Chukwu lashed out at the Oscars, accusing them and the entertainment industry writ large of "upholding whiteness." 

Chukwu further suggested that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was actively discriminating against creators of color, with black women being left furthest behind. 

"We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women," Chukwu wrote on Instagram following the release of the nominations. "And yet. I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life - regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance." 

A quick glance through the list of nominees, however, shows that far from "upholding whiteness," the Academy has selected a sizable amount of films directed, produced by, and starring, people of color. 

"Everything Everywhere All at Once," for example, leads all films, garnering nominations in eleven categories. The majority of those chosen are not white, including Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian to be nominated in the "best actress" category. 

Nonetheless, the fact that "Till" was unable to catch the Academy's eye was enough to declare the entire operation racist.

This is not the first time that the Oscars have been criticized for their apparent lack of diversity. In 2016, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite went viral in response to a list of nominations many felt had snubbed creators of color.

As FOX News reports, in 2020 the Academy announced that it would be implementing a set of inclusion requirements as it sought to "encourage equitable representation on and off screen."

These requirements stipulate that a least one of the lead or supporting roles, as well as two major behind-the-scenes roles, must be filled by people from a marginalized group.

While the requirements have been implemented to a certain extent, they will become mandatory for all films hoping to win a nomination beginning in 2024.