Human Rights A Day

Hollywood’s first black Oscar-winner, Hattie McDaniel, dies. Very few African American actresses have been nominated for Academy Awards, even today. The second black woman to win an Oscar was Whoopi Goldberg in 1990 for her supporting role in the movie Ghost. The first was Hattie McDaniel, who was born June 10, 1895 in Wichita, Kansas. She began her career by working beside other blacks in the limited roles that tent shows and vaudeville allowed. After a stint as a radio singer, she moved to Hollywood to build an impressive movie career. Even though movie producers withheld prime roles from blacks at the time, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People saw fit to criticize McDaniel for playing characters that perpetuated black stereotypes. Ironically, it was her role as Mammy in the legendary 1939 movie Gone with the Wind that made her the first African American woman to win an Academy Award. Despite her prominent place in history, McDaniel faced discrimination for the color of her skin. D