los angeles: Jamie Foxx and Morgan Freeman made it another record night for black actors at the Academy Awards, their wins coming just three years after Denzel Washington and Halle Berry shattered the Oscars’ racial ceiling. “It means that Hollywood is continuing to make history,” Freeman said. “We’re evolving with the rest of the world.” Foxx said. In an acceptance speech both funny and emotional, Foxx recalled being introduced years ago to pioneering black actor Sidney Poitier.

“He said, ‘I give you responsibility.’ So I’m taking that responsibility tonight,” Foxx said.

“Thanks, Sidney.” Foxx also paid tribute to his late grandmother Estelle, the person he has credited often with shaping his life. “She still talks to me now, only now she talks to me in my dreams,” he said, breaking into tears. “And I can’t wait to go to sleep tonight because we have a lot to talk about. I love you.” It was only the second time in the Oscars’ history that blacks earned two of the four acting awards, following Washington and Berry’s lead-acting wins for ‘Training Day’ and ‘Monster’s Ball’.

For most of their history, the Oscars have largely been a whites-only affair. Until recent years, black actors had few opportunities to appear in serious films that might catch Oscar attention. — AP