Tavis Smiley: The Oscars can do better

Since the Academy Award nominations were announced on Jan. 14, there have been calls for boycotts, various protest hashtags in social media and assorted roundtable discussions. This year’s host, Chris Rock, is no doubt experiencing the kind of euphoria that any comedian would die for. The jokes are practically writing themselves.

But amid reports that the Oscars are  scrambling to find prominent black actors to be award presenters on this year's telecast, the all-white nominee roster is no laughing matter.

Hence, five questions I’d like to submit to Hollywood for your consideration:

Have you ever considered why black folk are succeeding in music but not film? The music business and the film business are both run by the same people: white men. So why are black artists excelling in one industry, selling records and winning awards, but not so much in the other arena? To be sure, there are myriad answers to this question, starting with the fact that the cost barriers to entry are lower for music.

But it seems to me that there has been a disruptive technology in music that allows artists to get in where they fit in, to use the current technology to record, promote and distribute their music. In film, there has been disruption, but white men are still in charge. Netflix is all the rage, but it has changed the game more in how television and film are distributed, not how they are created.

Does black talent matter? I’ve been disturbed by the way some have framed this debate, that black folk have once again been “victimized” by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. There is no doubt that throughout U.S. history, the suffering of black people has been rendered invisible, politically, economically and socially. But for an industry that has the power to tell stories about the human condition, stories that can both empower and entertain, I see a lot of black writing, directing, producing and acting talent being ignored by the decision-makers.

Since Hollywood seems conditioned to follow the franchise or blockbuster film model, with movies that, at best, have one representative black face in the cast, how does Hollywood fertilize its soil and nurture a new crop of artists and filmmakers of color who don’t just have great stories to tell, but who can also bring in box office? (Think Ryan Coogler, director of Creed, and Ava DuVernay, director of Selma.) It’s as if Hollywood can only keep the names of a few black actors on its list at any point in time. (Think Kevin Hart, Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman.) Black actors and actresses aren't the only victims. The moviegoing public misses their artistic gifts and Hollywood loses out because there are more Harts, Jordans, Bosemans who could be winning box office as well, given a chance.

Hillary Clinton's lifetime cause: Column

How can Hollywood be so liberal, but seem blind to the fact that excellence in film comes in all colors? The industry certainly gets that superbness comes in all sexual orientations. Let’s be honest, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has gained more ground in Hollywood over the past decade than black folk have covered in 50 years. The evidence is plentiful: We see gay characters on hit TV shows and in more than a few Academy-nominated roles this year. Not to mention the prominent presence of gay executives in the upper echelons of Hollywood film studios. To be clear, I’m unequivocally in favor of expanding rights and opportunities for all. But, clearly, Hollywood doesn’t seem nearly as interested in equal opportunity. How can arguably the most progressive community in America be so slow to recognize and revel in the humanity and talent of its black members?

Is being “snubbed” by the academy the real problem? I’ve had more than one white academy member say to me that the Oscars are about rewarding the best actors in the best films, regardless of race, and that some years black actors just don’t turn in the best performances. I couldn’t agree more. In any given year, the best performers might be white. And even then, some of the white ones get overlooked. (Think Ridley Scott, director of The Martian, and Emily Blunt in Sicario.) Art is subjective, and “snubbed” is such a loaded term.

We don’t want mediocre to become the new excellence just for the sake of having black Oscar nominees. But everybody in Hollywood knows that this is not just a conversation about who gets nominated when all the work has been done. It’s a conversation about who gets a chance to work in the first place. It’s a conversation about who gets to select what stories will be told, who gets to choose the talent and who ultimately has the power to greenlight these projects.

There's nothing soft about liberal bigotry: Column

POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media

Are black “figureheads” really the answer? I have had the distinction of being a “black first” in my role as a daily talk show host on both NPR and PBS. At times, much has been made of that, but who cares really? What difference does it make that I’m a black first if the networks that I work with are content with my being the only? I celebrate the fact that the heads of both the Motion Picture Academy and the Directors Guild are accomplished African Americans. But black firsts mean little if they don’t have the power and the authority to effect meaningful and lasting change. It’s an insult to the African-American community to promote black folk as figureheads if the organizations they lead continue to lack real appreciation for the value of inclusion. I’m glad to see that the all-white Oscar nominees fiasco has finally spurred the academy to announce a plan to increase diversity. It’s about time. But the all-white nominees problem is an annual symptom of an everyday problem.

We accept that art is subjective. But we must also accept that there’s right and wrong, not just better or worse.

What Hollywood is doing is wrong. We all know it can do better, not just on Oscar night, but every day.

Tavis Smiley, a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors, is managing editor of Tavis Smileyon PBS and author ofThe Covenant with Black America: Ten Years Later.

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the Opinion front page.