Last year’s Academy Award nominations were so lacking in diversity that the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was launched.

When this year’s finalists were announced, names like Denzel Washington, Ruth Negga and Dev Patel were included.

Does that indicate a sea change by the Academy, a one-off, or something in-between?

We talked about that with Racquel Gates, assistant professor in Media Culture at the College of Staten Island — City University of New York.