(This ties in directly to my diary last weekend about voter suppression as justified by the use of bogus "voter fraud" narratives. Tom Tancredo's recent remarks are another reminder of just how crucial this is. - promoted by Paul Rosenberg)
In observance of Black History month, it is fitting to revisit America's less than stellar record in the ongoing effort to move toward true equality. The key to equality was recognized more than 100 years ago when newly freed African Americans were given the basic rights of citizenship and voting under the 14th and 15th Amendments, though it was not until the 1960s that equality for African Americans and other disadvantaged groups was finally acknowledged on both a legal and cultural scale with the passage of the cornerstone Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. Yet citizens of color continue to be underrepresented in U.S. electorate, and as recently as 2008 have been the target of thinly veiled voter intimidation and suppression efforts.
The history of Black Americans is a glorious one. It is a chronicle filled with much triumph, as well as many trials and tribulations. Yet, many debate whether a month that commemorates people, pitch in color, defies reason. Do the days dedicated to the acknowledgement of African American achievements divide us as a nation? The answer, some say is a complex one. Consider the thoughts of Columnist, Clarence Page of The Chicago Tribune. Is Black History Month already history? Well, it depends. Another view comes from a fellow Journalist and contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cynthia Tucker. She is more emphatic in her evaluation. Ms Tucker writes; Month robs blacks of part in U.S. history, It seems the subject, Black History Month, segregates opinions.
A version of this post originally appeared on TakePart.com
Since the Academy Awards coincide with Black History Month, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight the top 10 black actors who have won Oscars for Best Actor/Actress in a Leading Role. So Hollywood--which harbors, aids and abets, politically-correct, identity-politics-spouting, hand-out giving, limousine liberals--can finally shut up about the so-called "racism" and all the other fake "isms" they claim exist and need to be addressed. Here's the list of black Academy Award Winners for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Leading Role, in chronological order.
1.1963:Sidney Poitier wins for his role as Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field, becoming the first African-American actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
1964-2000: Lots of white winners.
2. 2001: Denzel Washington wins for his role as civil rights luminary and martyr Malcolm X in Spike Lee's Malcolm X, wins for his role as Rubin Carter, the real life legendary boxer, convicted of a crime he didn't commit, who overcomes the racist criminal justice system, police corruption and brutality, and proves his innocence through his persuasive and passionate autobiography in Hurricane, for his role as the corrupt, criminal, violent, lecherous cop, Alonzo Harris, in Training Day
3. 2001: Halle Berry wins for her role as Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball, becoming the first (and only) African-American actress to win Best Actress.
2002-2003: Some more white people.
4. 2004: Jamie Fox wins for his role as Ray Charles in Ray.
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