Spike Lee Credits #OscarsSoWhite Movement For His ‘BlacKkKlansman’ Nominations

We are now four years out from the #OscarsSoWhite movement’s early days. Back in January 2015, the hashtag and group were created to point out the complete lack of diversity in the nominations of that year’s Academy Awards. In the years since, we’ve seen not only more people of color being nominated for awards, but the Academy, itself, has opened up its membership to include more diverse people. And according to Spike Lee, that’s exactly why he feels his latest film “BlacKkKlansman” received the Oscar nominations it did.

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Speaking to EW, Lee opened up about his happiness about seeing “BlacKkKlansman” score six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director. The latter nom marked the first time in his illustrious career that Lee has ever been nominated. And he credits all this awards success to the #OscarsSoWhite movement.

“Well, let’s be honest. This would have not happened if there was not the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. What that campaign did, it made the Academy understand that they had to diversify their membership,” said Lee.

He continued, “Look at ‘Moonlight’ — the diversity of the voting members makes a difference, so if you want to go back to 1989, that membership was not feeling ‘Do the Right Thing’ [laughs], they weren’t feeling that. But, look, we’re here today, its not 1989, and the world knows where ‘Do the Right Thing’ is in the place of American history, world history, cinema history, so that’s a given.”

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Lee also explains why he thinks “BlacKkKlansman” will have a similar effect down the line, similar to how people now look at “Do the Right Thing” as a classic. “And I think when historians, many years down the line, look for a piece of art that crystalized the crazy motherfucking time we live in, they’re going to ‘BlacKkKlansman’ at the top of the list, that is my belief. And I’d also like to say this film is on the right side of history, the right side of history,” he explained.

We’ll have to see how well “BlacKkKlansman” fares when the Oscars are handed out on February 24. The film has some big competition, but for Lee, it’s clear that he’s just happy to get the recognition.