Near the height of the #OscarsSoWhite hysteria in mid-January, The Economist published an analysis of racial distribution for Oscar nominees and winners since 2000.  Rather than support the mainstream uproar, the data refuted much of it. Between 2000 and the present, the percentage of the U.S. general population that is black has ranged between 12.3% and 12.6%.  Over this time, the proportion of black Oscar nominees for acting was 10% – a slight under-representation, but not egregious by any reasonable standards. On the other hand, nearly 15.5% of Oscar wins for acting were by blacks, which not only balances out any perceived under-representation at the nomination stage, but likely over-compensates.  Winning an Academy Award is far more prestigious than being nominated for one. Researchers at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC) also conducted a study of top film roles by race between 2007...(Read Full Post)