Jada Pinkett Smith: ‘It’s not about black voting for black’

Jada Pinkett Smith hopes people don’t think black Academy voters will automatically vote for black films.
The actress is spearheading the race row currently dominating Hollywood after declaring she will be boycotting the 2016 Oscars due to the lack of diversity among the nominees.
In a chat with TMZ, Jada confirmed she and her husband Will still have no plans to attend the glitzy event on 28 February (16) but admitted she is glad that more black voters will be added to the Academy’s governing seats.
“You know, of course I think that’s necessary but I’m also hoping that the Academy understands it’s not just about having more black voters in order to give the connotation that black people vote black,” she told the news outlet. “But that the Academy as a whole, we all need to, as human beings, get to know each other, expand our education about everyone.”
The move by the Academy is a historic one, and it was agreed in a unanimous vote by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The board has now committed to doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020.
However, Jada still isn’t pleased by some of the reasons put forward about why certain films weren’t included in the 2016 short list.
“Some of the things I heard are like (movie) Beasts of No Nation was too difficult of a movie to watch,” she sighed. “Maybe. But these are the movies… partly the reason we have art is so we can come out of out comfort zones and get to know different cultures, different realities. And I must admit, Idris (Elba, star of Beasts of No Nation’s) performance in that movie was fantastic.
“So we have to take the responsibility to, if we’re going to have awards shows, it’s not watching movies based on preference necessarily. Especially if we claim that it’s about merit. But we need to watch movies because if we’re going to have awards shows, we have to make sure we’re committed to being inclusive. To everything.”