Should sociologists care about #OscarsSoWhite?

by Ronda Daniel – @rondaemily_ Image from Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Facebook page, recording a video ‘We must stand in our power’, urging people of colour to boycott this year’s Oscars awards ceremony. 18/01/2016. Initially, when I saw #OscarsSoWhite trending, referring to the fact that none of the nominations for this year’s Oscars feature performers of colour for the second year running, and responses from Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett-Smith who have chosen to boycott the awards ceremony, I viewed this as a trivial, non-issue. By ‘trivial, non-issue’, I originally thought of #OscarsSoWhite as an issue exclusive to the black elite in the USA. I asked myself: ‘There are so many day-to-day issues that black Americans face ­– incarceration, poverty, housing, employment discrimination – why should sociologists care about the Oscars?’ However, I now realise this representation does not just have repercussions for the performers, but aspiring performers, and the ordinary, average black American.