"I don't know if any one person's win, or one person snagging a role, or one person doing very well, changes something that's a systemic issue of inclusion."
Hilton DresdenRiz Ahmed won the Best Actor in A Limited Series at last night's Emmy awards, becoming the first person of Asian heritage to receive an Emmy for acting. While this is significant, Ahmed pointed out in a press conference after his win that one trophy does not mean a finite change to the "systemic issue of inclusion."
He explained, "I don't know if any one person's win, or one person snagging a role, or one person doing very well, changes something that's a systemic issue of inclusion. I think that's something that happens slowly over time. If there's enough isolated examples of success over time then the dots start joining up and it is not as slow a process as it sometimes is."
Take a look at his press conference, below:
#TheNightOf star Riz Ahmed: "I don't think any one award changes the systemic problem of inclusion"#Emmyspic.twitter.com/OKzli6t14O
— Variety (@Variety) September 18, 2017
In terms of diversity, this year's Emmys proved historic: Donald Glover became the first black man to win an Emmy for comedy directing for Atlanta, and Lena Waithe became the first black woman to win for comedy writing for Master of None.
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Ahmed's acceptance speech also addressed issues of race and xenophobia:
"It's always strange reaping the rewards of a story that's based on real world suffering," he said. "If this show has shone a light on some of the prejudice in our society, Islamophobia, some of the injustice in our justice system, then maybe that's something." Take a look, below:
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