Fans are in an uproar that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences chose to honor Hattie McDaniel without telling the whole sordid story of the Academy’s heinous treatment of her.
McDaniel became the first African American to be nominated and win an Oscar when she portrayed the maid “Mammy” in the classic film Gone With the Wind in 1939.
Hattie McDaniel in 1939's epic Civil War drama, 'Gone With the Wind.' McDaniel, who received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her performance, made history at the 12th Academy Awards by becoming the first African American to be nominated and to win an Oscar. pic.twitter.com/N2adKsdrx4
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 1, 2022
Of course, the Academy did not record how far McDaniel had to walk to get to the podium and that she was segregated from the rest of her Gone With the Wind cast, who conveniently sat upfront.
Black Twitter is repulsed because The Academy didn’t include the fact that McDaniel was prohibited from attending the Gone With the Wind premiere in Atlanta due to segregation in the Deep South. Furthermore, even when McDaniel won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in so-called “liberal” Los Angeles, McDaniel was forced to sit at a segregated table at the side of the ceremony room.
Following her historic win, McDaniel was subsequently blacklisted in Hollywood, forcing the versatile thespian and singer to return to radio because the roles dried up immediately.
McDaniel died from breast cancer at age 59 in 1952. In a final example of the indignity she was subjected to, McDaniel’s request to be buried in Hollywood Cemetary was denied because it was a Whites-only gravesite.
Black social media users almost immediately ripped into the Academy for these conspicuous omissions in Hollywood history and their extreme hypocrisy of honoring a woman they once trampled on.
crazy thing is their ancestors that behaved this way STILL WALK AMONGST US. they act like it wasn’t their grandparents, aunts and uncle. 😌
— Belle Bottom. (@mytweetaname) February 4, 2022
