(Not) Chasing Oscar Gold

<p>This past weekend’s Oscars ceremony was one for the history books. There was, of course, the <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/awards/will-smith-slaps-chris-rock-oscars-2022-what-happened-rcna21773" target="_blank">smack seen around the world</a>. But beyond the most salacious headline of the night one fact stood out: this was the <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/cross-connection/watch/will-packer-is-making-history-producing-the-94th-academy-awards-135763013983" target="_blank">Blackest Oscars</a> ceremony the world has ever seen.</p><p>Two of the night’s three hosts – comedian <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/entertainment/hub-today/catching-up-with-wanda-sykes/4457/" target="_blank">Wanda Sykes</a> and actress <a href="https://www.nbc.com/access/video/regina-hall-says-nothings-off-the-table-when-she-amy-schumer-and-wanda-sykes-co-host-oscars/736389915" target="_blank">Regina Hall</a> – were Black women. All the young people handing the winners their trophies were HBCU students. And for the first time in its history, the show was produced by an all-Black producing team, led by FAMU alum <a href="https://twitter.com/willpowerpacker" target="_blank">Will Packer</a>.</p><p>But the Oscars have a troubled <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/video/the-oscars-complicated-history-with-black-film-1446757443790" target="_blank">history</a> with race. In 1940 <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/04/hattie-mcdaniel-gone-with-the-wind-oscars-autobiography" target="_blank">Hattie McDaniel</a> became the first Black person to win an Oscar, for her portrayal of Mammy in <i>Gone with the Wind</i>. After a tearful <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7t4pTNZshA" target="_blank">acceptance speech</a>, she returned to her seat at the edge of the auditorium where the ceremony was held, segregated from her white peers. It would be nearly a quarter century before another Black actor won an Oscar, when <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/movies/sidney-poitier-trailblazing-hollywood-icon-who-broke-bar