Diversity backslides in 2019 nods

Emmy voters did indeed see the cast of “When They See Us” — but they didn’t notice many other actors of color. When the nominations for TV’s top honors were announced Tuesday, only 24 people of color were nominated for acting awards, a dramatic fall from last year’s record 38 and even the 27 nominees in 2017.

The cast of Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” — a Netflix film about the Central Park Five — had several minorities earn nominations, including lead actor in a limited series or movie for Fharrel Jerome, and lead actress for Niecy Nash and Aunjanue Ellis.

But people of color were hard to find in many categories. Nominees for lead actress in a comedy, supporting actress in a drama and supporting actor and actress in a comedy were all white. All seven comedy series nominated for best show were led by white actors.

“I gotta say, Mama needs more POC representation in COMEDY,” tweeted “blackish” actress Liz Jenkins. Two of the six actors nominated for lead in a comedy — Don Cheadle (“Black Monday”) and Anthony Anderson (“black-ish”) — are black, while Sterling K. Brown was nominated alongside Billy Porter (“Pose”) for lead actor in a drama for the NBC tearjerker “This Is Us.” Mahershala Ali earned his second Emmy nod, this time for “True Detective,” while Billy Porter (“Pose”), Benicio del Toro (“Escape from Dannemora”) and Kumail Nanjiani (“The Twilight Zone”) earned their first nominations.

Sandra Oh, who last year became the first Asian woman to be nominated for lead actress, landed her second nod for “Killing Eve,” as well as outstanding guest actress in a comedy for hosting “Saturday Night Live.”

Viola Davis was also nominated for outstanding lead actress in a drama for “How To Get Away With Murder.”