The Oscar Pattern: Why Black Actors Only Win for Pain Roles For 85 years, a pattern has defined Black Oscar wins: maids, slaves, and hypersexualized roles get rewarded, while powerful performances in Black films get snubbed. Hattie McDaniel (1940) won as an enslaved maid in Gone with the Wind at a segregated ceremony. Halle Berry (2002) remains the ONLY Black Best Actress winner for a hypersexualized role in Monster's Ball. Octavia Spencer (2012) won as a maid in The Help. Lupita Nyong'o (2014)