Nancy Wang Yuen – författare

When the 2016 Oscar acting nominations all went to whites for the second consecutive year, #OscarsSoWhite became a trending topic. Yet these enduring racial biases afflict not only the Academy Awards, but also Hollywood as a whole. Why do actors of color, despite exhibiting talent and bankability, continue to lag behind white actors in presence and prominence?  Reel Inequality examines the structural barriers minority actors face in Hollywood, while shedding light on how they survive in a racist industry. The book charts how white male gatekeepers dominate Hollywood, breeding a culture of ethnocentric storytelling and casting. Nancy Wang Yuen interviewed nearly a hundred working actors and drew on published interviews with celebrities, such as Viola Davis, Chris Rock, Gina Rodriguez, Oscar Isaac, Lucy Liu, and Ken Jeong, to explore how racial stereotypes categorize and constrain actors. Their stories reveal the day-to-day racism actors of color experience in talent agents’ offices, at auditions, and on sets. Yuen also exposes sexist hiring and programming practices, highlighting the structural inequalities that actors of color, particularly women, continue to face in Hollywood. This book not only conveys the harsh realities of racial inequality in Hollywood, but also provides vital insights from actors who have succeeded on their own terms, whether by sidestepping the system or subverting it from within. Considering how their struggles impact real-world attitudes about race and diversity, Reel Inequality follows actors of color as they suffer, strive, and thrive in Hollywood.

When the 2016 Oscar acting nominations all went to whites for the second consecutive year, #OscarsSoWhite became a trending topic. Yet these enduring racial biases afflict not only the Academy Awards, but also Hollywood as a whole. Why do actors of color, despite exhibiting talent and bankability, continue to lag behind white actors in presence and prominence?  Reel Inequality examines the structural barriers minority actors face in Hollywood, while shedding light on how they survive in a racist industry. The book charts how white male gatekeepers dominate Hollywood, breeding a culture of ethnocentric storytelling and casting. Nancy Wang Yuen interviewed nearly a hundred working actors and drew on published interviews with celebrities, such as Viola Davis, Chris Rock, Gina Rodriguez, Oscar Isaac, Lucy Liu, and Ken Jeong, to explore how racial stereotypes categorize and constrain actors. Their stories reveal the day-to-day racism actors of color experience in talent agents’ offices, at auditions, and on sets. Yuen also exposes sexist hiring and programming practices, highlighting the structural inequalities that actors of color, particularly women, continue to face in Hollywood. This book not only conveys the harsh realities of racial inequality in Hollywood, but also provides vital insights from actors who have succeeded on their own terms, whether by sidestepping the system or subverting it from within. Considering how their struggles impact real-world attitudes about race and diversity, Reel Inequality follows actors of color as they suffer, strive, and thrive in Hollywood.

Explores the power of faith to drive resistance to anti-immigration policies in the United StatesGod's Resistance chronicles the work of faith-based activists who have mobilized to counter the effectsof mass detention and deportation. Focusing on Southern California, home to a large undocumentedpopulation, the authors examine which strategies have been most effective, as well as the obstacles that faith presents to organizing effectively. In-depth interviews with over forty activists, leaders ofcongregations, lay participants, and immigrants allow us to hear at first hand the challenges andoccasional triumphs of this work.The authors show how faith-based organizations have a distinctive set of advantages to leverage insocial movements that are often overlooked and underappreciated by secular activist organizations, but they also face particular challenges that can hinder their effectiveness. The volume offers insights into how these advantages can be maximized, and how the obstacles can be overcome. The powerfultestimony from asylum seekers and detained immigrants found in these pages, along with the concreteexamples of effective strategies, are indispensable for anyone invested in the fight to recognize thehumanity of one of the nation's most vulnerable populations.

Explores the power of faith to drive resistance to anti-immigration policies in the United StatesGod's Resistance chronicles the work of faith-based activists who have mobilized to counter the effectsof mass detention and deportation. Focusing on Southern California, home to a large undocumentedpopulation, the authors examine which strategies have been most effective, as well as the obstacles that faith presents to organizing effectively. In-depth interviews with over forty activists, leaders ofcongregations, lay participants, and immigrants allow us to hear at first hand the challenges andoccasional triumphs of this work.The authors show how faith-based organizations have a distinctive set of advantages to leverage insocial movements that are often overlooked and underappreciated by secular activist organizations, but they also face particular challenges that can hinder their effectiveness. The volume offers insights into how these advantages can be maximized, and how the obstacles can be overcome. The powerfultestimony from asylum seekers and detained immigrants found in these pages, along with the concreteexamples of effective strategies, are indispensable for anyone invested in the fight to recognize thehumanity of one of the nation's most vulnerable populations.

In this updated edition of Reel Inequality, author Nancy Wang Yuen reflects on Hollywood's wins and failures in addressing racism across the past decade. Drawing on newly released industry data and recently published interviews with actors of color, she traces how racism continues to shape who gets cast, who gets hired, and who gets to tell their own story. Yuen looks closely at the pressures actors of color face, including typecasting, financial precarity, and racial burdens, even as many push back and forge their own paths. She also traces Hollywood's recurring cycle of promise and retreat, showing how diversity efforts often surge in response to public pressure but are scaled back during economic downturns, corporate mergers, and political pressures. Reel Inequality, the reboot, will always honor the resilience of actors of color working within and against a racist Hollywood system, as true inclusion remains a cliffhanger.