#OscarsSoWhite: Internet On Fire As Only White Actors Receive Academy Award Nominations

Piece by: Kwarula Otieno
Lifestyle

This year doesn't look like a good year for black actors as Academy awards decide to nominate only white actors in almost all categories.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has received the wrath of the Internet on today after announcing the 2015 Oscars Nominees .

All 20 nominees in acting categories are white — which makes the pool one of only a few instances of complete lack of diversity in nearly 20 years.

The last time all nominees were entirely white was in 2011, and before that, in 1998 for the 70th Annual Academy Awards.

Coincidentally, the Academy overlooked the lead actor in Selma, a biopic about Martin Luther King, Jr., on what would have been his birthday.

While the film was nominated in the Best Picture category, along with Birdman, Boyhood, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, actor David Oyelowo — who portrayed King in Selma and was arguably a top contender for Best Actor — was left off the nominees list.

Instead, the Academy selected Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Michael Keaton (Birdman), and Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) as 2015 nominees in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role category.

Adding salt to the wound was director Ava DuVernay's snub in her respective category, which includes Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game).

The Internet criticized the Academy's decision on Thursday using the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, after it was revealed that minorities were entirely left off the acting categories. Below are reactions from people on Twitter.