Oscars: Beyond Black and White

In its 88th chapter, this year's Oscars will be one of the "most racist" Academy Awards ever, we hear.

As the race to the Oscars heats up - the greatest show on earth is taking place tomorrow (28 February) at Kodak Theatre - #OscarsSoWhite is now the most buzzing hashtag. So yes, a lot of folks - including the stars - are pissed off that "diversity" has become the fall guy. 
In its 88th chapter, this year's Oscars will be one of the "most racist" Academy Awards ever, we hear. Not one coloured actor has made it to the nominations. Jada Pinkett Smith, who is boycotting the awards ceremony - along with hubby Will Smith - has said, "At the Oscars... people of colour are always welcomed to give out awards... even entertain. But we are rarely recognised for our artistic accomplishments. Should people of colour refrain from participating all together?" 
Spike Lee wanted to know "How is it possible, for the second consecutive year, [that] all 20 contenders under the actor category are white?" He's boycotting the ceremony too. White man Mark Ruffalo felt that the "entire American system is rife with white privilege racism. It goes into our justice system." But he's attending the ceremony since he's been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Spotlight (how can he not?).

Given all the brouhaha this year's Oscars are generating, we thought the time's right to take a look at few of those men and women "of colour" who were given their dues - through the years. Not to say that justifies this year's whitewash, but just so we remember. These are their snapshots and soundbytes etched forever in our minds. Definitively. Going beyond black and white.Hear the victory verdicts from former winners (and remember, there are many more of them, this is our random pick).
Hattie McDaniel
as Mammy in Gone With The Wind (1939)
"I sincerely hope that I shall always be a credit to my race, and to the motion picture industry," McDaniel said. By winning the award for Best Supporting Actress in David O Selznick's Gone With The Wind, she became the very first African American to win an Oscar.
Sidney Poitier
as Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field (1964)
"I arrived in Hollywood at the age of 22 in a time different than today's, a time in which the odds against my standing here tonight, 53 years later, would not have fallen in my favour," Poitier said, in 2002, when he received his second Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. His first - the first to be won by a Black actor - for was Lilies of the Field.
Louis Gossett Jr
as Gunnry Sergeant Foley in An Officer and A Gentleman (1982)
"You know when you prepare a speech it's no use, cause it's all gone. I tried to get my kid to come up here to share this with me...," Gossett said while accepting the award. He became the first African-American male to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Whoopi Goldberg
as ODA MAE Brown in Ghost (1990)
"Thanks. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted this," Goldberg said, as she received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. "My brother's sittin' there, he says, 'Thank God we don't have to listen to any more. You can do it now.' My mom's home, everybody's watching."
Cuba Gooding Jr
as Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire (1996)
"Tom Cruise! I love you, I love you brother!" Gooding said (sadly, Tom Cruise lost his Best Actor nomination for Jerry Maguire to Geoffrey Rush for Shine), after winning Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Arizona Cardinals footballer who sticks with his agent Maguire.
Denzil Washington
as Detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day (2001)
"Oh, God is good. God is great... From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all. Forty years I've been chasing Sidney [Poitier], they finally give it to me, what'd they do? They give it to him the same night [Poitier's Life-time Achievement award]. I'll always be chasing you, Sidney. I'll always be following in your footsteps," Denzil said as received the Best Actor nod, even as detractors felt the award was given just to make up for not giving it to him for his performance in the earlier year's Hurricane.
Halle Berry
as Leticia Musgrove in Monster's ball (2002)
"Oh my God. I'm sorry. This moment is so much bigger than me. Thank you... I am so honoured and thank the academy for choosing me to be the vessel from which this blessing might flow. Thank you," Berry said, as she became the first African-American to win Best Actress.
Forest Whitaker
as IDI AMIN in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
"When I was a kid, the only way I saw movies was from the backseat of my family's car at the drive-in, and it wasn't my reality to think I would be acting in movies," Whitaker said, after winning Best Actor. "So re-ceiving this honour tonight tells me that it's possible, it is possible..."