The Truth About This Year's Oscar Diversity

And the award for most improved diversity goes to . . . the 89th Academy Awards! Unlike last year's nominations, which caused many protests and boycotts (as well as the 2015 noms, which sparked #OscarsSoWhite), this year's nominees actually include people of color.

The best picture category features diverse films Fences, Hidden Figures, and Moonlight, the latter of which took home the Golden Globe for best motion picture drama. Denzel Washington and Ruth Negga received nominations for best actor and actress in a leading role for their performances in Fences and Loving, respectively. Mahershala Ali and Dev Patel received nominations in the supporting actor category for their respective roles in Moonlight and Lion, while Barry Jenkins makes history as the fourth-ever black nominee in the best director category, for his work on Moonlight.

Furthermore, for the first time ever, women of color — Naomie Harris, Octavia Spencer, and Viola Davis (who now holds the record for most Oscar nominations received by a black woman) — are the majority, dominating the category for best supporting actress. All in all, the Academy did a good job in acknowledging the talent and work people of color put into making films this past year. However, while the diversity issue has been improved, it is far from fixed.

With a whopping 14 nominations and now one of the most-nominated films in Oscar history (tying only with 1997's Titanic and 1950's All About Eve), La La Land is one of my favorite films of the season. As a 23-year-old Los Angeles native working her way up the ladder in the entertainment industry, I feel a strong kinship to La La Land's main character, Mia Dolan. Sure, there are some differences. I'm not a struggling aspiring actress, I've never had a door slammed in my face, and I can't dance to save my life (my friends will attest to this fact).

I also happen to be black, while the actress who portrayed Mia Dolan, Emma Stone, is white. However, this fact never stopped me from enjoying the movie or relating to the characters. The film did receive some backlash in casting a white actor (Ryan Gosling) in the role of Sebastian Wilder, a pianist and aficionado of jazz music, which originated among black people.

At first, this didn't bother me. Not only am I a huge fan of Ryan Gosling and think that he did an amazing job in the role, but I believe that you can be passionate about any genre of music, no matter what your race. (Personally, I can only tolerate about 20 minutes of jazz myself, and that's usually how long one song is.) But, then I began to wonder . . . was a black person even considered for the role?

During her acceptance speech at the 2015 Emmy Awards, for which she was the first black woman to win the award for best lead actress in a drama, Viola Davis said, "The only thing that separates women of color from anything else is opportunity." At last year's Oscars, host Chris Rock reiterated this fact, stating, "It's not about boycotting anything; we want opportunity. We want the black actors to get the same opportunities as white actors. That's it."

So, were any black actors given the opportunity to be the leads in La La Land? Emma Watson and Miles Teller were originally in talks to star in the Golden Globe-winning film, but was anyone else considered? Were Asian or Latino actors? LGBTQ or plus-size actors? If the answer to these questions is no (which I suspect it may be) and these people didn't even get the chance to audition for the role, then how can people think that the diversity problem has been fixed?

If Hidden Figures had been an average story about three intellectuals working for NASA set in the modern day, as opposed to a 1950s period piece, I highly doubt that all women would have been cast in the starring roles, let alone women of color. Additionally, we don't just need diversity on screen, but behind the scenes as well. In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to ever win the award for best director, acknowledged for her work on The Hurt Locker. Why did it take so long? There are people from all walks of life who deserve to have their stories told and even more diverse writers, directors, musicians, editors, and costumers who want to help tell those stories.

After this most recent election, the marginalized have to work now, more than ever, to have their voices heard. The Women's March was an outstanding display of unity and equal rights, but it can't stop there. Whether or not it should be, the entertainment industry is a significant platform. People all around the globe watch television and films and look to their favorite celebrities — people who inspire them — for direction and support. While I applaud the Academy for its astounding improvements in diversity, I also implore that the progress continue year after year. Diversity should be the norm, not news.