By Elahe Izadi, washingtonpost.com
While the movie industry has come under increasing pressure over lack of diversity and questions around representation, television has provided a somewhat more diverse landscape for people of color.
At the same time, TV has a ways to go, as Sunday’s Emmy Awards demonstrated. In its 69th year, the Emmys still included several “firsts.”
Lena Waithe, along with Aziz Ansari, won best writing for a comedy series for the “Thanksgiving” episode of “Master of None.” Waithe’s win made her the first African American to win in the category. She was also the first black woman to be nominated in the category, which Ansari won last year.
Donald Glover won best director for a comedy for FX’s “Atlanta,” making him the first black director to win in this Emmy category. Only three black directors have previously won in the drama category (Thomas Carter, “Equal Justice”; Eric Laneuville, “I’ll Fly Away”; and Paris Barclay, “NYPD Blue”).
