Left-wing Hollywood director Spike Lee appeared at the Icon Mann gala in Los Angeles Thursday and ripped the Academy, saying “every 10 years black folks get awards” at the Oscars.
“Has Hollywood discovered black people?” Spike Lee claims he hears from his colleagues once a decade.
“And then it would be a nine year drought,” he continued. “So we don’t know what’s going to happen next year. There’s a lot of people who have been nominated, especially the filmmakers, and are they going to have a film next year?”
The Do the Right Thing director said that more African-Americans among the “gatekeepers” would push more black art to the forefront.
“Gatekeepers decide what films they’re making and what films they’re not making and if we’re not in the room we don’t got a voice. If we’re not in the room it can be a drought, a feast to famine.”
Lee’s latest film, BlacKkKlansman, has been nominated for six Oscars at the upcoming host-less 91st Academy Awards.
During a recent appearance on MSNBC, Spike Lee blasted the American school system for not teaching more honestly about race.
“I think that a lot of people need to know this. Because this is part of American history, which is not all good,” the 61-year-old said. “You know, I think that when I was in public school in Brooklyn, New York, I was not told George Washington owned slaves.”
“I was told he chopped down the cherry tree and wouldn’t tell a lie. In 1492, this guy, this terrorist sailed the ocean blue. I mean, we have got to start teaching, I feel, my opinion, let’s be honest about our history and let’s move forward. We’re not honest about our history.”
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