Golden Globes 2015 Presenters Sadly Lack Diversity

The time has almost come, my friends, and that time is the 2015 Golden Globes award ceremony. The competition is fierce between all the big contenders, which include the soon-to-be-married Benedict Cumberbatch for his work in The Imitation Game and the recently-married Eddie Redmayne for his work in The Theory of Everything. However, while I'm rooting for both men, there is, as always, the same problem with the upcoming award show: a sheer lack of diversity. This has already been discussed at length with regards to the Golden Globes nominees, but the subject is important to examine again. Why? Because the list of 2015 Golden Globes presenters contains 36 names — only five of which are people of color.

If you include hosts Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler, that bumps the list of presenters up to 38 names with only five people of color, which means that the diversity among the people handing out the awards ranges from 13 percent to 14 percent. I know there's really nothing that prestigious about handing out a Golden Globe to other people, but the presenters make up the backbone of the ceremony. They're the people we stare at fervently as we wait for them to open the damn envelope already. They're the people making scripted jokes and witty conversations that will end up on a gif — usually while the ceremony is still going on. They're the people who will give Fey and Poehler a break from making us laugh until we wet ourselves. Is it too much to ask that there be a little more representation of people who aren't, well, Caucasian?

It's not that I'm saying the actors, singers, comedians that make up the list aren't incredibly talented, or incredibly relevant. Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson of Fifty Shades of Grey fame will be presenting — and no doubt steaming up our screens in the process — while the ever-flawless Jennifer Aniston and the uproariously funny Kristen Wiig will also be making an appearance on our TV screens come Sunday. However, there are actors, singers, and comedians of color who are just as talented, just as relevant, and just as funny — thus making them equally worthy to have been included on such a uniform list.

Alfred Enoch and Aja Naomi King, launched to new fame by How to Get Away With Murder, are missing from the list despite what a cute opportunity it could have been to have them present the award for Best Actress in a TV Drama that should totally go to their co-star Viola Davis. Octavia Spencer of Red Band Society fame and Ming-Na Wen of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are two other phenomenal actresses who should have made the list, if they were gearing toward presenters a little older and more established. Alongside Saturday Night Live stars of the past, Wiig and Seth Meyers, they could have added Saturday Night Live stars of the present, such as Michael Che or Leslie Jones, or added the comedic talents of Jessica Williams and Maya Rudolph. And if we're looking for singers of color with acting credits, look no further than Nicki Minaj, Selena Gomez, or Beyoncé.

The fact of the matter is that there's no real reason that the list of presenters for the 2015 Golden Globes should be so overwhelmingly, dominantly Caucasian. There are plenty of performers of color who are not only famous, not only talented, not only up-and-comers or possessing soon-to-come projects they'd like to promote, but who are just as deserving of participating in the Golden Globes as anyone else. It's easy to say that the race of the presenters doesn't matter or that this is a silly thing to be harping on, but these kinds of things do matter when you're forced to get used to counting out each individual person of a minority race in such a large group — because there are so few of them present in the group that you want to make sure they are there. These kinds of things matter when it's a consistent and present problem that is constantly complained about, but never actually fixed.

The Golden Globes are, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best award shows of the year, just in terms of the meme-worthy happenings and the gif fests that result from the antics of the celebrities attending, winning, and presenting. I'm sad that 2015 is going to be yet another year when nearly all of the presenter-gifs are absent of people of color, but that doesn't make me any less excited for the show. It makes me optimistic that maybe, just maybe, if I bring up this issue often enough, people will start making progress toward evening the ratio, if only just to shut me up.

Check out the full list of presenters below.

Amy AdamsJennifer AnistonKate BeckinsaleAdrien BrodyBryan CranstonJamie DornanRobert Downey, Jr.Anna FarisColin FirthJane FondaHarrison FordRicky GervaisBill HaderKatherine HeiglKate HudsonDakota JohnsonAdam LevineMatthew McConaugheySeth MeyersGwyneth PaltrowChris PrattJeremy RennerMeryl StreepChanning TatumLily TomlinVince VaughnKristen WiigOwen WilsonCatherine Zeta-JonesPaul RuddJared LetoKevin HartSalma HayekJennifer LopezLupita Nyong'oOprah Winfrey

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