I want to make clear that when I say "colored people," no matter how politically correct or incorrect that may sound, I am referring to anyone whose ethnicity and/or heritage is Asian, Hispanic, African, or anywhere that isn't the United States. I personally don't like the term because there are people both black and white people, all over the world within close proximities of each other. And what about a black man and a white woman or a white man and a black woman having a kid? If the kid appears to be very white, can that kid still be considered a "colored person" because one of the parents is "colored?"
If you want to call "colored people" the minority, throw in caucasian people as well. And consider throwing out some Asians, particularly Chinese. China's population according to the 2010 census is 1,338,612,968. India's population according to indiastat.com is 1,194,334,330 and rising as I write this on January 29, 2011. Also according to indiastat.com, the world's population is 6.975017 billion and rising as well. China's population represents roughly 1/6 of the world's population. And with India included, the two most populated countries represent a little over a quarter of the world's population. So anyone but Chinese people should be considered a minority regarding the world's population. But if you want to be more broad, for example Kenyan African-Americans or Somalian African-Americans instead of just African-Americans, anyone who isn't of Asian ethnicity is a minority in this world. And the Academy recognizes talent from all over the world, not just people born in the United States. So on a global level, which is what the Academy looks at when it comes to nominating people, anyone who isn't Asian or part Asian is a minority.
The United States is the third most populated country, with a population of 308,745,538 according to the 2010 census. And given that the United States is a melting pot, ethnicities are merging and getting lost like tears in rain. Whereas in India where pre-arranged marriages are still common, Indians are marrying Indians, and thus giving birth to more Indians. That is uniformity. They are not marrying Swedish people, or French people. Or Germans or Aussies or Mexicans. They are staying out of the melting pot. At least those with pre-arranged marriages.
Anyways. First, I want to address the media's mention of "colored people" and lack of recognition. Since the Academy Award nominations were announced on January 25, it has been noted that all the nominees for all four acting categories are white. I want to point out that this isn't entirely true.
Spanish actor Javier Bardem received a nomination for his performance in "Biutiful." CNN acknowledges this, but claims that since he is a Spaniard, he is therefore European, which is true. But a colored person is a colored person regardless of where they're from. A black person is still black whether he or she is from Chicago, Illinois or London, England or Lagos, Nigeria. Is a white person who is born in Johannesburg, South Africa and immigrates to New York City more African-American than a black New York native whose parents and grandparents are also New York natives and have all lived in New York their entire lives?
Colored people in the film industry do get recognition. Plenty have been nominated for acting categories. They include (but not limited to): Whoopi Goldberg**, Denzel Washington**, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman**, Cuba Gooding Jr.*, Michael Clarke Duncan, Queen Latifah, Djimon Hounsou***, Don Cheadle, Jamie Foxx **, Terrence Howard, Will Smith***, Forest Whitaker*, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson*, Ruby Dee, Gabourney Sidibe, and Mo'Nique*. (Note: * indicates they won. ** indicates they have been nominated multiple times and won at least once. *** indicates they have been nominated multiple times but never won.) And that's just African American nominees dating back the past 20 years. How about Mexican actress Salma Hayek being nominated for "Frida" or Japanese actor Ken Watanabe for "The Last Samurai?"
Sidney Poitier became the first African-American to win a leading role acting category for his performance in "Lilies of the Field" in 1963. Not for another 38 years in 2001 would another African-American win an Oscar for acting in a leading role.
In fact, in 2001 two African-Americans won. Denzel Washington won Best Actor for his performance in "Training Day" and Halle Berry won Best Actress for her performance in "Monsters Ball." Also nominated that year for Best Actor was Will Smith for "Ali." Denzel Washington beat out Sean Penn for his performance in "I Am Sam." And the Academy seems to absolutely love performances involving characters overcoming adversity. Enter Tom Hanks in "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump," Jamie Foxx in "Ray," Sean Penn in "Milk," and Daniel Day-Lewis in "My Left Foot."
Is there a lack of movies with "colored people" in leading or supporting roles? Morgan Freeman starred in "Red," Denzel Washington starred in "The Book of Eli" and "Unstoppable," Ken Watanabe in "Inception," Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson in "Iron Man 2," and "Brooklyn's Finest" which not only starred Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes, but was directed by Antoine Fuqua, an African-American as well. Of all these, "Brooklyn's Finest" seems to be the most respectable film. Note that Antoine Fuqua directed Denzel Washington to receive his Best Actor Oscar for his performance in "Training Day."
Who could forget "Death at a Funeral" with Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence? Or "Lottery Ticket" with Bow Wow and Ice Cube? And not to mention your Tyler Perry movies. In 2010 he gave us "Why Did I Get Married Too?" as well as "For Colored Girls." Rocky Seker, a film curator who runs the blog "Invisible Woman.....Black Cinema at Large" says, "The stories that we would like to tell usually don't get greenlit. We're just not taken seriously. It's all a moneymaking issue." Now while each of the movies I've mentioned in this paragraph did make a profit, they don't appeal to larger demographics. It seems that they are able to get the budget to make movies and get them wide distribution. It's the subject matter that doesn't attract larger audiences. But if movies like "Are We There Yet?" with Ice Cube are ripped apart by critics, how can they be taken seriously?
