The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite has been splashed across Facebook and Twitter for a good week or two. The main question is why? Why are the Oscar awards facing such a severe backlash this year?

Let’s turn back the clock to Jan. 14 – the day the Oscar nominees were announced.

Many people expressed joy at Leonardo DiCaprio receiving a well-earned nomination for his riveting role in “The Revenant”, but the air of joy was short-lived as one big fact set in — a lack of diversity in this year’s nominees.

“Straight Outta Compton” was shut out along with actor Michael B. Jordan in his role in the critically acclaimed film “Creed” and Idris Elba in his powerful performance in “Beasts of No Nation.” Each category featured only white folks, giving birth to the #OscarsSoWhite movement.

Joining the uproar were celebrities such as Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee, both of whom spoke out against the Academy and vowed to boycott the ceremony.

Even President Obama has joined the discussion.

“I think when everybody’s story is told, then that makes for better art. That makes for better entertainment,” Obama said. “It makes everybody feel part of one American family. The industry should do what every other industry should do — to look for talent, provide opportunity to everybody.”

The Academy is not ignorant of the backlash it is receiving. Hot on the heels of criticism, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced changes, including doubling the numbers of women and minorities by 2020.

Not all responses to the backlash have produced positive results. Some view the harsh comments against the Academy as unfair while others believe that the truly talented have been nominated. In other words: race should not be a key factor, only your talent should be.

Many celebrities, such as Stacey Dash, Ice Cube and Whoopi Goldberg, disagree with the boycott against the Academy. I share Ice Cube’s sentiments expressed in his interview with the U.K. talk show “The Graham Norton Show.”

“We don’t do movies for the industry; we do movies for the fans, for the people,” said Cube. “And the industry, if they give you a trophy or not, or pat you on the back or not, it’s nice, but it’s not something you should dwell on.”

He continued, “We got so much praise for the movie [“Straight Outta Compton”], and it’s like, how could you be mad ‘cause one other Academy, or Guild, or anybody didn’t say it was [No. 1]. It’s crying about not having enough icing on your cake. It’s just ridiculous.”

“Clueless”star Stacey Dash stirred up the most controversy.

“I think it’s ludicrous,” Dash said in an interview on “Fox and Friends”. “Either we want to have segregation or integration, and if we don’t want segregation, then we have to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re black. If it were the other way round, we would be in up arms. It’s a double standard.”

Stacey Dash remains unapologetic for her remarks despite receiving such a strong backlash.

Whether the boycott is just or not, clearly there’s a lack of diversity in the Film industry that needs to be addressed. Actor Sir Ian McKellen acknowledges this fact while assessing and criticizing the current Academy voting members.

“The voting members of the Academy are predominantly white, predominantly male and predominantly middle aged and old,” McKellen said. “They’re not representative. If you feel excluded because you’re black or Hispanic or a woman or gay, you’re going to look at that institution and say it doesn’t represent me. No, it doesn’t, that’s a fact. But do you expect it to represent you? It’s just a middle aged, white, male organization.”

With so many people divided over a matter regarding diversity and talent, one has to ask: is there really a right answer to this dilemma?

The recognition of a diverse individual during awards season has been an issue in the film industry with an even bigger issue being diverse casting. The Oscar nominations have sparked a fight for “diversity” and yet this fight has come back down to Black vs White – as if no other races exist besides the two. Let’s not even get started on the lack LGBTQ members in the industry.

Instead of blaming the Academy, casting directors for films and television shows alike should broaden their horizons – look for diverse individuals to portray numerous roles. In the end, whoever gets the role, gets the role, but it wouldn’t hurt to extend the casting net by a larger group.

Yes, there is a huge lack of diversity amongst the nominees – there is no questioning that. But does that make it ok to disregard and disrespect the talent currently nominated? Absolutely not.

The Academy is changing its ways and must now focus on casting as well. So as we wait for these changes to take place, let us acknowledge and honor the brilliant actors, directors, cinematographers, musicians and screenplay writers who were nominated for this year’s Academy Awards hosted by Chris Rock.