Of all the wrongfully handed out awards during last night’s Oscar’s, this one definitely got my blood boiling the most. In a completely unsurprising turn of events, Emma Stone took home the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in La La Land. A white woman won the award for best actress, again. In a mediocre film that was overhyped simply due to the fact that musicals in Hollywood are a dime a dozen these days. Oh, and let’s not forget about Ryan Gosling.
But there was one actress in the category that no one seemed to pay any mind to. The only woman of color nominated, Ruth Negga is an Ethiopian-Irish actress who was nominated for her role as Mildred Loving in the film titled after her character’s namesake; Loving. This was Negga’s first time attending the award show and she made history just by being nominated. She was the first Black Irish actress to be nominated and the first African (Ethiopian) actress to be nominated in a leading role. Emma Stone, on the other hand, was just another white woman winning Best Actress for the 88th time.
The movie Loving tells the beautiful true story of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple living in Virginia in the 1960s. The Lovings were arrested for being married in their state because interracial marriage was illegal, therefore they were breaking the law. The 1967 case of Loving vs. Virginia invalidated laws in all fifty states from prohibiting interracial marriage. The film wonderfully displays the Lovings as they navigate between loving each other, raising a family, and fighting for the right to marry. Ruth Negga gives an accurate and raw portrayal of Mildred that will surely leave you in awe.
This couple was just like any other, all they wanted was to be married and happy. Had it not been for the Lovings, my parents might not have been able to marry as well.
That is why Ruth Negga should have won, not Emma Stone. Her win would have been the only time we heard the Lovings story during the Oscar’s last night. She breathed life into a character who was responsible for giving a voice to interracial couples across the U.S. and paved the way for others to stand up for what is right. Theirs is a Civil Rights story you’ll never hear in school and definitely didn’t hear at the 2017 Academy Awards.
Emma Stone winning this award is another classic example of how PoC can work ten times harder than white people, and still not get the recognition they deserve.
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