Jada Pinkett Smith and Janet Hubert are both right–kind of

From the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag that took over black Twitter to Jada Pinkett Smith’s decision to boycott the Oscars to Janet Hubert’s reaction to the boycott, I’ve seen many people using their voices and actions as a way to make sense of and counter the lack of mainstream recognition that predominantly Black films have gotten. Both Pinkett Smith and Hubert’s reactions, at least within my circles, have gotten the most attention and commentary. In listening to both of them, I didn’t have a visceral “you’re WRONG” response. But I didn’t think they were totally right either.

When it comes to Pinkett Smith’s decision to boycott the Oscars altogether, frankly, I get where she is coming from. And that strategy has worked before. One of the most prominent examples of this involves her husband, Will Smith, who boycotted the 1989 Grammys after they refused to televise the presentation of the award for Best Rap Performance.

When large groups of people pull their support, there is a potential negative impact on program advertisements and viewership. So on a certain level, Pinkett Smith is right to use a boycott as her vessel for sending a message to the Oscars. People of color should be elevated to a place where they don’t have to beg to be invited somewhere or have a seat at the table, as she said in her video post.

However, as I listened to Pinkett Smith present the case for why she wouldn’t be at the ceremony, I couldn’t help but think about host Chris Rock, about The Weeknd and even about "Straight Outta Compton." I couldn’t help but think that no matter how much anger there may be over a very obvious and problematic lack of representation, there might still be some benefit to black actors and actresses showing up for the people and films that managed to push their way to the front. As Chris Rock acts as master of ceremonies, what if there were people of color in the audience applauding and laughing at his jokes? If The Weeknd manages to come away with the award for Best Original Song, maybe there should be black actors and actresses there to celebrate him excelling in what is still a predominantly white field. Even if he doesn’t win, I believe that solidarity and presence can be just as much of a statement as silence and absence.

In this case, I don’t think showing up and showing support would be condoning exclusion. It wouldn't mean attending every after-party as though nothing is wrong; it wouldn't mean putting on a smiling face when you aren’t happy with the state of affairs. It would simply mean being in the room and taking up space while finding ways to let your opinion and goals be known. While not showing up would make a statement, I think an equally powerful message would be to show up in droves, to say “we are still here, and won’t go anywhere, until and even after we get the credit we deserve.”

This brings me to Janet Hubert, who pretty harshly criticized Pinkett Smith and her decision to boycott. Again, I do get where Hubert is coming from when she says it’s not that big of a deal and she doesn’t care–kind of. Placed next to a water crisis in Flint, Michigan that disproportionately affects Black residents or the increasingly routine killings of our young men and women at the hands of the police, not getting nominated for a shiny trophy does seem like a trivial matter. But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is an institution which, be it through its own clout and influence or the pull of public opinion–or both–has been positioned as an authority on film. When it opts not to give recognition to people of color, it becomes part of the institutionally constructed minimizing, capitalizing on and marginalizing of people of color and their stories.

This non-recognition perpetuates the idea of people of color as “Other,” as outside the norm, as not being (as) acceptable in places of high standards and achievement. When our stories and performances of those stories aren’t recognized on the same level as our counterparts, it prevents a wider audience from being exposed to narratives like that of Creed or Selma. These movies, both of whose main actors were said to have been robbed of Oscar nominations, show Black people in a very human light, as people with conflicts, with backstories, with complex gray area riddled personalities. The actors deviated from roles that have been recognized and rewarded by mainstream media–the mammy, the tyrannical leader, the abusive mother, the help. Not recognizing works that attempt to show other sides of our existence is taking a very large step in the wrong direction.

Janet Hubert is also right in saying that the Academy Awards has had a diversity problem since its inception. She’s right to say that the Academy Awards weren’t made for people of color and that we should develop our own spaces for recognition–and we have. The existence of the NAACP Image Awards, the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards, the African-American Film Critics Association and others is crucial to giving Black people a space to create standards, recognize those who meet and exceed those standards and promote creativity. All of this is done with an awareness of the experiences and mindset that allow for these stories to be necessary. These spaces, however, should not deter people from wanting to reach for mainstream accolades and exposure, as well.

Recently, I’ve heard a couple of people (not necessarily Hubert) imply that black film stars should bypass the Oscars in favor of awards that were made specifically for them. That logic makes me uncomfortable. It is rhetoric that sounds deeply similar to what I hear as a woman of color attending a predominantly white university, when people advise rejection of schools like mine by black students in favor of historically black colleges and universities. If I have the intelligence and capabilities to succeed at a prestigious, albeit heavily white, university that will open doors for me, why shouldn’t I? If a black actor, actress, director or screenwriter has the chops to rise among the ranks in Hollywood, why shouldn’t they? In order to really affect change in the areas we seek access to, whether they be political, creative, financial or anything else, we must infiltrate the institutions that govern them at as high a level as possible. In order for our stories, skills and experiences to gain the same level of respect as our peers’, we must be able to stand alongside them and share with them.

Ultimately, changing the Oscars to be a completely equal playing field is going to take a lot of work. It will not happen just because of a boycott or policy changes within the Academy. Hollywood undoubtedly has to do better and open the pedestal that has been created by winning an Oscar to people of color more than it already has. In the meantime, black actors, actresses, directors and all other artists should continue telling their stories, should continue to rejoice when one of their own makes it.  Boycotting may get people's attention, and if that is what the general consensus is, then it should be done. But absence must be balanced with presence, with mindfulness, and with resilience.