Coming from the perspective of a white person, someone so white that their skin practically glows in the sunlight Cullen-style, the Oscars this year were #sowhite, if not entirely white. As an individual who really values art in all of its forms, a lack of diversity within the most prestigious awards show is most definitely discouraging and, quite frankly, a step backwards. With this in mind, naming Chris Rock as the host for the Oscars seemed like a perfectly strategic choice, as it was inevitable to everyone that he would most definitely mention the inequality in the entertainment industry and how the Oscars show the culmination of it. However, the way that he went about discussing this issue and bringing effective change was weak at best, and I felt as though his monologue was poorly executed.

It is one thing to bring attention to an issue that plagues minorities, like a lack of opportunity in a certain market, especially if you are a part of that group. However, to do so at the expense of other minorities is in very poor taste – cringe-worthy in my opinion. Serious change and awareness were not really brought to the issue when, in this case, Chris Rock poked fun and encouraged Asian stereotypes in his opening monologue. Especially from someone like Chris Rock who has definitely experienced and had to overcome stereotypes for African Americans, it seemed insensitive and ineffective. True, his jokes could have been in good fun, but that really isn’t that point – if the racial roles had been switched, I can assure that the outrage would be much more amplified.

When one places the importance of one minority over another, just like Chris Rock did during his Oscar’s monologue, racism is just being perpetuated further. The truth of the matter is that African American actors and actresses do not receive nearly as many opportunities in Hollywood as they deserve. But neither do Asians. Neither do Latinos, the fastest growing minority group in the US. Neither do the indigenous people of this country. The list goes on and on, and change is desperately needed. However, just as far a step backwards as no diverse Oscar nominees sent us, so too did Chris Rock’s rhetoric. Not only did he place African Americans as the most important minority above the other groups, but he did so by putting a specific group down, and that, to me, is so unacceptable.

There were so many ways that his monologue could have been delivered effectively while still maintaining his selling point of humor and driving his message across in a meaningful way. However, he chose the quick and easy route – getting laughs and marginal attention through perpetuating the stereotypes of another racial group facing the exact same problem. Minority representation in cinema, modeling, literature, and many other professions is a pressing problem that has to be fixed – it is inevitable, as our country continues to be a melting pot and draw from other cultures. But exploiting other races in order to claim that spotlight for an issue all racial minorities face does not get the job done – in fact, it doesn’t help the case at all. Coming from a diverse family with two Asian sisters, they need to see their own race represented in a positive way – as do Latinos and African Americans equally. In order to effect long-term and meaningful change, trying to place minorities in rank of importance for this specific problem through degrading humor, regardless of the tone, is in no way a good one to go about solving this problem.