[jimt]

I think the questions many people are asking are

What difference does it make what color her skin is? and

Why make race an issue at the Oscars?

My wife just recently passed an ESL test (written by Hispanics) that some of her black colleagues did not. The immediate hue and cry ? Racism !

Does EVERYTHING have to be racially based ?

Your comments, particularly, would be appreciated as you've often provided a thoughtful perspective.

[BikerNYC]

Why make race an issue at the Oscars?

I agree. The obvious answer to the question of why no black actress had previously won an Oscar for Best Actress is that none were deserving of it.

[mafree]

Does EVERYTHING have to be racially based ?

Of course not but you'd never know that by looking at most of American history. Let's face it- for most of our time in the Americas, Blacks have lived under slavery and legal segregation, denied many of the opportunties others could have without question.

For approximately the last 35-40 years or so, we've had a chance to reverse some of this unpleasant history but there's still some work to do on all sides of the fence.