Stacey Dash has written a blog post explaining her giggly cameo at the Oscars last night, and it’s honestly left us even more confused.
Dash’s appearance was supposed to be a joke, but it fell flat. Chris
Rock introduced her as the Academy’s new “director of minority
outreach.” She laughed nervously and walked out to the stage.
“I cannot wait to help my people out,” she said. “Happy Black History Month!”
And then she left.
The audience somehow managed to laugh politely, The Weeknd looked embarrassed, and the night rolled on.
As you’ll remember, Stacey has basically spent all of Black History
Month campaigning against it and alienating the black community by
saying people of color shouldn’t “self-segregate.” And now, Dash
has blogged about her Oscar night appearance. She argues that she was
helping increase not just racial diversity but also political diversity.
It’s hard out here for a black Republican in Hollywood, you know?
“When they added ME to increase the diversity, I’m sure many black people rolled their eyes,” she wrote.
“I’m not ‘black enough,’ they say. But guess what? I’ve heard that all
my life. I would rather be a free thinking, black than a cookie cutter
black who thinks – and votes – just like all my friends.”
She also said standing on the Oscars stage fulfilled a dream of hers since, once upon a time, she used to act:
“Yes, I’m the actress from the South
Bronx who has always dreamed of winning an Oscar. But God has a great
sense of humor and this is my first encounter with one of my dreams of
destiny. Bringing diversity to Hollywood… not merely because of color,
but politics as well. (After all, different colors of skin is an easy
kind of diversity. Ideological diversity is much harder, because it
forces everyone to come face to face with actual beliefs. Hollywood
needs BOTH.)”
Here’s the thing, though. If Stacey hadn’t trolled her way to the
Oscar stage, would she have had a shot at getting there? The
argument behind the Oscar diversity controversy is that the
entertainment industry tends to shut people of color out of its top
echelons, intentionally or not. The fact that Stacey hasn’t had a
memorable role since “Clueless” just proves that there aren’t enough
roles for people of color.
But the biggest question for Stacey is this: if “different colors of
skin is an easy kind of diversity,” then why were the Oscars so
overwhelmingly white to begin with? And now we’re just back at the
beginning of the debate.
