Why Oscar nominations matter

New York

JANUARY 19 is Martin Luther King Jr Day and given the context, it is an interesting moment to ask whether it really matters that the Motion Picture academy failed to nominate the black director and the black lead actor of Selma, the King biopic, for the Oscars.

After all, it lands fairly low on the list of indignities visited upon African-Americans: No unarmed people died, no innocent citizens were patted down or jailed.