The 78th annual Academy Awards will broadcast to audiences around the globe on March 5, and African-American actor Terrence Howard, has been nominated for an Oscar for his role in the movie “Hustle and Flow.”
If he wins the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, he will join a small cadre of African-American winners.
In 1939, Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an academy award for her performance as “Mammy” in “Gone With the Wind.”
It took the Academy another 24 years before it awarded an Oscar to another African-American. That time it went to Sydney Poitier, who won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Lilies of the Field (1963).
Another 19 years passed before the Academy awarded a third one to an African American.
During the 1980s and 1990s, several black actors and one black actress won Oscars for supporting roles. However, no one won for a leading role until 2002 when Halle Berry became the first African American to win Best Actress for her role in Monster Ball. In a tearful acceptance speech, Berry told the audience: “It’s for every nameless, faceless, woman of color who now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.”
Denzel Washington also took home an Oscar for his role as the corrupt cop in Training Day after two previous nominations for leading roles. Sydney Poitier has also won a Honorary Lifetime Oscar.
In its 78-year history, the Academy has honored only 18 African Americans with Oscars. One of the 18 was Jamie Foxx won a Best Actor Oscar for “Ray” in 2004, and Morgan Freeman won an Oscar for his supporting role in “Million Dollar Baby.”
Good luck to Howard. The groundwork, however hard, has been laid.