> How many people had that as their newspaper headline, or something to that effect?
> We had "Blacks come to the fore on Hollywoods most colourful night"
>
> Which was interesting, given Denzel Washington's quote "Don't put 'Black Actor Wins' on your heading, put 'Actor Wins'" (Paraphrase)

On the one hand, it IS Oscar history. No black woman has ever won Best Actress before, and the number of times a black man has won Best Actor are only about three or four.

However, it is a shame that this is what viewers and media both see as important enough to headline above all else. *Denzel Washington* won an Oscar last night. *Halle Berry* won an Oscar last night. When these facts become less important than "a black man" won an Oscar and "a black woman" won an Oscar, I think that's a devaluing of the unique talents and worth of these two individuals.

Unfortunately, race is so much in the forefront of people's minds, and often put there by the people fighting for a world in which race is *not* the first thing people see about others, that the accomplishments of Washington and Berry get upstaged by the color of their skin.

I don't know if this is related or a total non sequitur, but Whoopi Goldberg needs to find a new schtick. After unfunny race joke number 492, "old" got "weary." I'm all for using race as a basis for non-disparaging humor, as I think that inasmuch as humor can be wielded as a cutting weapon it can also be used as a great healer. But race is practically ALL SHE HAD ANY JOKES ABOUT, and there comes a point, which she crosses regularly these days, where you're not helping to ease racial tension anymore but instead making people sick of it. Of course, it doesn't help that her jokes just aren't funny. She's not the only one. Chris Rock is pretty ridiculous too.
I don't know of any white guys that do this, because they'd get flayed alive for it.