Reverend Al Sharpton is irate about the near shutout of black films at the 2015 Academy Awards, including the widely-acclaimed Selma film, and has called an “emergency” meeting to address the Oscar snub.
Sharpton characterized the nominations are ‘appallingly insulting’ and compared Hollywood to the Rocky Mountains, saying the higher you get ‘the whiter it gets’.
Sharpton is reportedly ready to meet with colleagues to discuss actions around the Academy Awards, after no black actors or actresses received nominations for the Oscar awards, which will be televised on Feb. 22.
The Academy Award nominations were released this week and Selma received only one nomination for “Best Movie.” Sharpton was particularly incensed that David Oyelowo, who receive widespread acclaim for his gripping and plausible portrayal of the late Reverend Martin Luther King, did not get nominated. Neither did Selma’s breakout director, Ava DuVernay.
“In the time of Staten Island and Ferguson, to have one of the most shutout Oscar nights in recent memory is something that is incongruous,” Sharpton said, according to Fox News.
In a statement quoted by the Business Insider, Reverend Sharpton compared the movie industry to the Rocky Mountains.
“The higher you get, the whiter it gets,” Sharpton said.
Reverend Sharpton said: ‘It’s ironic that they nominated a story about the racial shut out around voting while there is a racial shut out around the Oscar nominations.
“With all of the talent in Selma and other black movies this year, it is hard to believe that we have less diversity in the nominations today than in recent history.”
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