Though some people may think focusing on moments like this are just a litany of redundancy, they are actually quite momentous and powerful given the cultural power of the media and the notoriously conservative Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

More than a winner or presenter using the power of the viewing audience to go on a fleeting rant about one issue or another, its moments like these that make true history and have the power to effectively create societal change.

The politics of representation and history and memory, which film contributes to whether intentional or not, are incredibly powerful in cultural formation; the recognition of an African-American woman by such a mainstream institution at a time when McDaniel would not be allowed to sit with the rest of the cast of the film at the Atlanta world premiere show the dichotomies of an industry that dared to recognize someone who was seen by the rest of the nation as only slightly above the enslaved character she portrayed and an Academy that until recently, rarely acknowledged films with challenging and sometimes controversial subject matter or the talent of non-white American actors, directors, and song writers.