The 2018 Oscar nominations are in, and they were met with a flourish of diverse nominations. And when I say “a flourish,” I mean, like, 10 (there are probably more, maybe less).

The Oscar nominations of the past have been met with celebration at the (small) amount of diversity represented, but these are very small victories when you look at the Academy’s history. We are still in a time when we are celebrating “firsts,” and even waiting for other categories to get their “firsts.” Every now and then we see a few people of color get Oscar nominations, but does this truly mean progress?

There are a few firsts in this year’s nominees:

Mary J. Blige is the first actor to receive a nomination for acting and Best Song.
Dee Rees is the first black queer woman nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay (She is the second black woman nominated for screenwriting, period).
While being the fifth black man to be nominated for Best Director, Jordan Peele is the first black filmmaker to simultaneously get nominated for writing, directing and producing.
Rachel Morrison is the first woman to be nominated for Best Cinematography.
Mudbound is the first movie directed by a black woman to be nominated for Academy Awards.

It’s easy to rejoice at people of color — especially women of color — being nominated, and to view this as progress. But there is no progress if these voices are only acknowledged every two or three years, when the Academy wants to avoid controversy. It is definitely not progress when powerhouse performances (such as Tiffany Haddish in Girls Trip and Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman) and blockbuster movies (again, Girls Trip) don’t receive the honor they deserve.

The Academy must do more work to ensure that the voices of the voiceless, the shunned and the invisible are acknowledged every year. But with the organization being 72 percent male and 87 percent white, it’s hard to see a day when — and this is a huge stretch — there is a category absent of white nominees AND the internet doesn’t go wild about it, claiming “reverse racism” and blaming affirmative action. Right now, a future like that seems unlikely.

Is the Academy making an honest effort to break down the structure of white supremacy that exists within its entire makeup, or are they simply trying to avoid controversy for a year or two to gain more viewers? To quote #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign, “#OscarsSoWhite is very much alive … It has always been about all marginalized communities and focuses both in front of and behind the camera. While some progress is made every year, much more work needs to be done.”

As we celebrate, let’s say, Greta Gerwig becoming the fifth (white) woman to be nominated for Best Directing, we must also look at the fact that only one (again, white) woman has won that award in the Oscar’s 90 year history, and there has still never been a woman of color to be nominated in this category (Dee Rees should’ve been nominated in this category, but that’s another post).

So yes, there is a lot of work to be done, and we must hold the Academy and the entertainment industry accountable.

Jalen Thompson

Writing since January 2018 · 1 story contributed