Like Usher, I have a confession. I don’t usually watch the Academy Awards. I don’t think much of the garbage that usually emanates from Hollywood. And I almost gag every time someone tries to hold up entertainers and athletes as role models for African-Americans. But I tuned in Sunday night for one reason and only for one reason – to see if Jamie Foxx would get a well-deserved Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles.

And when he won, I yelled.

To understand my attachment to the movie, “Ray,” you must understand that I love to mimic people. I can imitate Jesse Jackson, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, my high school principal, my former football coaches, Howard Cosell and Stevie Wonder, among others. But after seeing Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, not a week has passed without me imitating Jamie Foxx imitating Ray Charles. I know what you’re thinking: Why not skip the middleman and imitate Ray Charles? If that’s your question, you haven’t seen the movie. See, imitating Jamie Foxx is imitating Ray Charles. There is no middleman.

Rooting for Jamie Foxx to win was also prompted by my feelings toward Ray Charles, the man. When he stopped performing before segregated audiences in the South, he began occupying a special place in my heart. I’ve been a fan of Bill Russell, the former Boston Celtics center, and Muhammad Ali over the years, not because they were exceptional athletes – and they were – but because they refused to be relegated to anyone’s back seat. When I was in high school, I remember reading Bill Russell’s autobiography, “Go Up for Glory,” and his recounting how he flew back to Boston when he learned that he was expected to stay in a colored hotel on the road. Ali risked his career, standing up for his religious beliefs. Russell and Ali were the exceptions.

And so was Ray Charles. And that’s why I pulled so hard for Jamie Foxx on Sunday night.

I was also pleased that Morgan Freeman won an Oscar for his supporting role as a retired boxer in “Million Dollar Baby.” I’d much rather see him win for that than for “Driving Miss Daisy.” Let Miss Daisy drive herself.

The fact that Morgan Freeman won for his role as an ex-boxer and Foxx won for his portrayal of Ray Charles is much sweeter than three years ago when Denzel Washington won for “Training Day” and Halle Berry won for “Monster’s Ball.” That was the first time that two African-Americans had won Oscars for acting; Sunday night was the second.

Confession No. 2: I didn’t see Monster’s or any other kind of ball. I make no apology for not wanting to see a Black woman have an affair with a racist prison guard who executed her husband. In my book, there isn’t that much acting in the world. Not only did I not pay to see the movie, I refuse to watch it on free TV, if you can call cable free. I decided a long time ago that I would not knowingly waste my time or money on a Black person playing an ignorant, demeaning or subservient role.

As you’ve probably deduced by now, I didn’t do cartwheels when Denzel and Halle picked up their Oscars. Of all of the great movies Denzel Washington has starred in – Malcolm X, Hurricane Carter and Remember the Titians – Hollywood decided to reward him for his role as a dirty cop.

Some of my friends have argued – obviously, without success – that I should lighten up and realize these are only movies. In the ideal world, that might be true. But movies are never just movies to us. It does matter what roles we see African-Americans play. It does matter whether they are rewarded for playing the role of a principled, self-loving person or a White racist’s sex object.

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee managed to star on Broadway and in Hollywood without compromising their dignity. Some of our Black performers don’t have their dignity intact because they never had any in the first place. They are under the illusion that they are just actors and actresses.

I don’t expect everyone to share my view. If you want to spend money supporting movies that denigrate African-Americans, don’t complain when that’s all Hollywood gives you.

In the foreseeable future, I am going to quote Jamie Foxx quoting Ray Charles: “I got to do what I gotta do.”