The Writers Guild of America West Committee of Black Writers penned an open letter to Hollywood on Friday, addressing the reinvigoration of the Black Lives Matter movement and suggesting how lasting change can be introduced in order for diverse screenwriters to be seen and heard with equal visibility to others.
Following the many statements from studios about supporting Black voices, the writers felt it was their “duty” as peers to respond. In the letter they noted, “we are grieving, we are angry, and we are unapologetically demanding systematic change.” They continued by emphasizing, “It is not just the future of our industry or our livelihood as writers, but our very lives as Black Americans that depend on you listening thoughtfully to what we have to say in response.
The writers called the current social and political scene in this country a “reckoning,” going on to acknowledge how the COVID-19 pandemic has left millions unemployed and uninsured, especially Black Americans. “This pandemic has been a somber backdrop for recent protests honoring George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black people murdered in this country by state-sanctioned violence and racist discrimination.”
They referenced the statements of many TV networks about their commitment to empowering Black voices in entertainment, noting that they will base the validity of these statements on how they go about enacting new policies. The writers also spoke about Black writers in Hollywood who have “made it,” but are still underpaid, denied jobs and rejected from writers rooms for lack of experience. “We need to revolutionize the way our industry hires writers. When companies and studios claim to champion diversity but refuse to prioritize hiring Black writers for a writers’ room or contribute to Black narratives, you are perpetuating a system that either exploits or excludes Black experience and perspective. Not only are you discounting the impact of Black voices to authenticate the narrative you’re putting into the world, but you’re telling us, your peers, that our impact is not important or valuable to the work this industry produces.”
The writers ask that studios “abolish” practices of only hiring writers from exclusive lists and “expand their circle” if they don’t know any Black writers. “Hollywood, what you do next is paramount. As the most powerful entertainment industry in the world, we challenge you, the powers that be, those individuals with unmistakable privilege, the elite executives who gave the OK on those statements, to begin instituting real systematic change.”
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