#OscarsSoWhite: Academy Awards include all white actors for second year

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Photo: Barry Wetcher

For the second year in a row, every acting nominee at the Academy Awards is white.

Oscar contenders such as Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Michael B. Jordan (Creed), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Benicio Del Toro (Sicario), Tessa Thompson (Creed), Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton), and Will Smith (Concussion) all missed out on nominations Thursday morning. Straight Outta Compton and Creed were also left off the list of Best Picture nominees.

After the 2015 Oscar nominations, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trended on Twitter, and ignited a firestorm of conversation around the lack of diversity both in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and Hollywood in general. This year, the hashtag was popular again, with many journalists and observers calling out the Academy Awards for a lack of representation.

Last year, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs addressed the lack of diversity at the Oscars, noting, “The Academy has no power over Hollywood. We have nothing to do with hiring. […] What we can do, however, is to get them to widen their normal stream of thought.”

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