Will Smith’s 10-Year Oscars Ban: ‘Toothless Penalty’ or ‘White Privilege on Parade’?

I feel a little awkward about what I’m about to do. It’s not something I’ve ever done before and, to be honest, it doesn’t come naturally. But what the heck, there’s a first time for everything, so here goes nothing.I’m about to agree with the Academy.Shocking, right? The run-up to this year’s Oscars was filled with more embarrassing missteps than a Rob Lowe-Snow White production number. The Academy infuriated rank-and-file members by pre-taping eight below-the-line awards to trim the ceremony (which still managed to run 20 minutes longer than last year). It snubbed Volodymyr Zelenskyy from an on-air appearance, despite Sean Penn’s threat to publicly smelt his Oscar if the Ukrainian president wasn’t allowed to speak (Zelenskyy ended up slumming it at the Grammys). Even the Academy’s brand-new 500 million movie museum — the one that co-host Wanda Sykes toured...