Regina King says the lack of non-white actors nominated for Emmys is a "sobering" statistic.
"I have been going back and forth about whether or not I should compose this letter," King wrote in an open letter on Huffington Post." I try hard in my daily life not to engage in uncomfortable situations regarding race. But sometimes it's very difficult to find other reasons that better explain why certain events play out the way they do."
In the letter, King, who stars in TNT's cop drama Southland, noted that through this year just 53 non-Caucasian actors have been nominated for Emmys out of nearly 1,000 possible nominations in the top four acting categories for drama and comedy.
The 39-year-old actress, who's appeared on 24 and the films Jerry Maguire and Ray, also expressed her anger about being mistaken for another black actress at this year's ceremony. "And to add injury to my already sensitive nerve endings a picture of Rutina Wesley from True Blood, who attended this year's Emmys, had a caption that read: 'Regina King enters the 62nd Emmys.' No, I wasn't there," wrote King.
"Mistakes happen, right? Well after a few 'mistakes' of how people of color are portrayed in the Hollywood media, I decided it was important to say something about how things go down in Hollywood."
King also has a qualm with veteran Sesame Street actress Alaina Reed being left out of this year's memoriam. "I know I am taking it somewhat personally because of the history I shared with her, but then I stopped to think about the fact that she was on Sesame Street for 12 years, a show that is an American institution. You have to admit, to not recognize her contribution to television baffles the mind."
Emmy-winning writer David Mills (The Wire, NYPD Blue), who was a light-skinned black journalist who often explored race relations and racial tensions in his work, was also left out of the montage.
"I am assuming other actors have lost someone close to them who weren't recognized during that segment of previous Emmy telecasts," King wrote. "So I will take the stats about people of color out of my complaint and pose an essential question on behalf of any television artist of note working in our business. What is the process in determining who will and will not be recognized during the Emmy memoriam?"
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