Hollywood’s top prize for directors has long been the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ D.W. Griffith Award. But when this year’s award went to director Steven Spielberg, it was stripped of its namesake, because of Griffith’s racist views. “The decision to remove Griffith’s name has churned up a maelstrom of mixed emotions in the liberal, artistic community of Hollywood that still recognizes its debt to the director’s pioneering work. Is it possible to honor the achievements of a ground-breaking artist, they ask, while still deploring that person’s political views?” – Washington Post 03/16/00