The question is, what's the ratio of black directors to white directors? I feel like there are maybe 10-20 working black directors out there today that might even deserve a spot in the awards.
There are also a serious lack of working female directors. I think the problem is there is just such a small pool of people to choose from, and there are so so many more white directors working.
It's way more complicated than that. I'm a white woman, I work in the industry and this is what I see.
First of all, it's an industry that almost requires you to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth (I was not, but my family was slightly upper middle class, so I had advantages). Because starting out is so precarious - you're expected to work very long hours for below minimum wage and almost no job security in the two most expensive cities in the US - the most successful people in the industry tend to have come from a lot of money and/or well-connected families (nepotism is very much a thing and everyone knows it and no one does anything to change it). These people are also overwhelmingly white.
I worked in reality television before I worked on respectable "scripted" films. My time in reality TV was hands down the most diverse work environment I ever had in the industry. About 40% of the employees in the company were white and 60% were people of color from every imaginable background, and they held positions from bottom to top. Everyone I worked with was extremely professional, intelligent, and hardworking - and they all ultimately wanted to work in narrative film and TV. Pretty much everyone who works in reality TV doesn't want to be there - they see it as a way to make good money until they can get into narrative.
Then, an opportunity came up for me and I made the leap to narrative. It was lily white. I literally never saw one person of color, except for maybe a half asian guy. Sometimes you see a few POC on set as the PAs, or maybe in G&E, but the departments are pretty much overwhelmingly white.
So it's not like there's a lack of POC wanting to write and direct movies. Far from it. So why is it that I see POC ghetto-ized so reality television, whereas respectable narrative work is dominated by white people? What's going on there? I live in New York City, where 30% of the city is black, and I see 0 black people working in narrative film.
Second of all, in my experience, the industry is dominated by white men and they give opportunities to other white men. I have seen it first hand. I have spent long periods in rooms with older white men from privileged backgrounds - like, Hollywood royalty. They do not want anyone else at their table. I'm serious, I've seen it firsthand. If you're a woman and you're doing well, you're going to spend all your energy kissing these white guys' asses so they keep giving you opportunities - you're not going to be helping other women sit at your table too.
I have also seen young white guys from well-connected families with very little experience get opportunities from the big boys that regular Joe Schmo doesn't get. Because these young white guys remind the older guys of themselves when they were younger. I have seen this stuff firsthand. It's gross, but it's definitely going on.
So yeah, in my experience, the industry is incredibly racist and sexist. Very few people say blatantly racist and sexist stuff out loud. Very few people say they aren't going to give opportunities to POC and women. But it's an industry that grants opportunities based on connections. And right now the decision-makers, the opportunity-makers, are dominated by very wealthy white guys who haven't heard the word "no" in decades. I'm sure none of these guys consider themselves racist or sexist. But combating racism and sexism requires one to look at their own blindspots, and if you're rich and powerful and never hear the word no, I doubt you regularly look inward on your biases.
Anyway, this stuff really just scratches the surface. But yeah, I do think the industry has a very bad diversity problem. I also think Spike Lee is an asshole haha.