On September 20, Viola Davis of How to Get Away with Murder became the first African-American to win an Emmy for best actress in a drama. Davis spoke of the importance of “opportunities” for people, particularly women of color. “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity… You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there,” she stressed. People of color are highly unrepresented.

The University of Southern California conducted a study to analyze media representation in the Oct. of 2013. 14.1% of the 3,932 speaking characters in popular films evaluated were African American, 4.9% Hispanic, 4.4% Asian, 1.1% Middle Eastern,  1% American Indian or Alaskan Native and 1.2% from “other” races and ethnicities. A complete 74.1% of the speaking characters were White. What USC’s Annenberg School similarly uncovered was minorities in the popular films analyzed were most likely to be sexualized and least likely to be depicted in committed relationships. When represented, people of color are misrepresented by damaging stereotypes.

Despite the negative, major victories have been claimed by minorities. Princess Tiana of Princess and the Frog was Disney’s first African American princess. Quvenzhané Wallis, a twelve-year-old African American girl, starred as Little Orphan Annie in the 2014 musical of the same name. A black James Bond is now in consideration as well. Nonetheless, the United States is not quite there for equal media representation. As Davis emphasized, directors and screenwriters are responsible for the lack of roles for people of color. Be an advocate. Media representation is extremely important for the development of self-worth and love; every person, regardless of skin color, is deserving of a character they can relate to.