Last year, Chiwetel Ejiofor was nominated for Best Actor (12 Years a Slave). The year before, Denzel got a nom for "Flight." In 2006, Will Smith and Forrest Whittaker both got noms, and Whittaker won (Last King of Scotland). Really, aside from the Old White Guy's Club thing, it is helpful to study how the mathematics of probability and statistics works and see that African-Americans, as 12% of the population, are doing pretty well in the movies. I don't see how "Selma" is a snub - there have been other films that featured strong ensemble acting but didn't get specific nominations in the acting category. Just because you play MLK, doesn't mean you're a shoo-in for a nomination, especially if you're a newbie. I've observed that the Academy often seems to take its time with new actors on the scene (I'm sure there are exceptions....Ejiofor was fairly new to U.S. audiences), before making a Best Actor nomination. It's a conservative group and it's composed of human beings, so of course there is a bias towards those you are more familiar with. I would say it's not entirely unfair to consider the Oscars to be something of a popularity contest-slash-marketing device, more than a serious critical report on what is quality film.

[posted over at Elba, but it seems applicable here...my comments were in response to some discussion of Al (yawn) Sharpton's usual and predictable shrill cries of racism from this year's Academy...

...but you never know?

It is weird that Bradley the sniper gets noted, but not Oyelowo.

I also had doubts about the Hawking movie, due to my sense that all Hawking needs to inspire people is to BE Hawking....film not necessary.

I'm over the Oscars.

Have you really played 4 child molesters, btw, or was that just humorous resume padding?

....sadly I note that the huge line at the multiplex here was for Am. Sniper - we are 12 miles from one of the nation's largest AFB, so I guess that was to be expected.