'Black Oscars': Race and the Academy Awards focus of Memphis library event John Beifuss, Memphis Commercial Appeal In what Variety labeled an "Oscar diversity record," nine actors of color were nominated this year for Academy Awards. The milestone presented a hopeful contrast to 2016, when all 20 acting nominees were white, a situation that sparked the critical social media hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. But Dr. Frederick W. Gooding Jr., an author and professor at Texas Christian University, cautions that achieving meaningful diversity in the acting categories may have more to do with the quality of roles than with the quantity of nominations. "What does it tell us if the Black women winning Academy Awards 70 years apart are still playing maids?" he asked, citing the Oscar-recognized performances of Hattie McDaniel in "Gone With the Wind" (1939) and Octavia Spencer in "The Help" (2011).