“Latinx” started trending after Black, and Afro-Latinx Twitter responded to John Leguizamo and Dascha Polanco’s controversial statements following the release of this year’s Emmy nominees, which included zero members of the Latinx community.
On Tuesday, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced its list of 2020 nominees. On the list were well-known actors like Sterling K Brown, Meryl Streep, Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, and more. The amount of Black talent nominated was record-breaking for the Academy, especially after decades of white-filled nods. However, the Academy was still tone-deaf in having neglected the #Latinx community. This year, there were zero nominations for Latinx talent in any of the major categories. Asians only made up only 2 percent of the total nominees, proving white Hollywood never quite meets the mark when it comes to diversity and inclusion. We all can agree that white Hollywood needs a bigger wake-up call and that all people of color need to be represented equally; what we can’t agree on is that it’s Black people’s fault, and that’s how Latino actor John Leguizamo made it seem in a tweet.
The same day the nominations were dropped, Leguizamo retweeted an article written by Los Angeles Times staff writer #MichaelOrdono; the article included a headline that read: “Emmy 2020: Black nominees gain ground, Latino representation still abysmal.” In his retweet, Leguizamo wrote, “Why can’t we Latinx have a piece of the pie? We are the largest ethnic group in America and missing as if we didn’t exist!” the actor exclaimed. Seemingly cosigning what Leguizamo wrote, “Orange Is the New Black” star Dascha Polanco wrote, “If It’s only us speaking up on it, no one cares. It’s the silence from those that fight for equality but only their equality. Diversity but Diverse enough to include thyself That mentality of “As long as I’m good; I don’t see a damn thing.”
It didn’t take long for Black Twitter to school their fellow community of color. Many explained that Black people spoke up and fought for the moves that are being made for the Black community, and some also called out the Latinx community’s failure to acknowledge Black Latinx members of their community. “My dear LATINX community, I promise there’s a way to ask for better representation without being anti-black,” said one Twitter user. “This is anti-Black click bait from the #LATimes. *Black folks didn’t create or slice the pie* and have worked really hard for the crumbs of representation they do get. Pitting us against each other is a tool of white supremacy AND assumes that some of us are not Black Latinxs,” another user wrote.
Others mentioned the colorism and racial issues regarding Black Latinx and indigenous members of the Latinx community versus white Latinx and Hispanic members of the community. “It’s funny that, that LA Times article said there hasn’t been a Latinx winner at the Emmys and just last year Jharrel Jerome (who is a PROUD Dominican) won. I would appreciate if ppl would be honest and say they want to see a NON BLACK Latinx win.” A Latinx Twitter user also called out his community of their mistreatment of indigenous Mexican actress #YalitzaAparicio. “I was disappointed when the Latinxs were talking shit about Yalitza Aparicio. As the second mexican and the first indigenous to ever be nominated for an Academy Award, y’all should have stood for her. But naw you wanted that white latinx bs. #Haters.”
Other marginalized groups of people who deserved to be highlighted in the Emmys this year were the cast of FX’s Pose. Cast members #AngelicaRoss and #IndyaMoore spoke out against the Academy for snubbing the Transgender community and talent. “Something abt trans ppl not being honored on a show abt trans ppl who created a culture to honor ourselves bc the world doesn’t,” Moore said. Sorry! Later on, Polanco took to Instagram to clear up her earlier comments on Twitter.
“It was not shading our Black community. Blackness is in my DNA as a Dominican, as an Afro-Latina, as a whole. What I’m referring to is we cannot sit here and say, ‘we are snubbed, write these articles, and all these kinds of things, when we ourselves are not doing our due diligence to create the work, to create the opportunities. We can’t claim, ‘Oh let’s claim diversity,’ but when you’re good, then everything else is okay,” the actress said.
The Hispanic Caucus also stepped in to criticize the Emmys in a statement via Twitter that reads: There is not a single Latino or Latina nominated for #TheEmmys awards. A demoralizing disappointment for the U.S.’s largest minority group, representing nearly 1-in-5 Americans. Hollywood must acknowledge and address the erasure of Latinx actors.
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