If you've been hiding under a rock: The Academy sparked controversy this year when -- yet again -- no people of color were nominated for any of the main categories at the Academy Awards. Jada Pinkett Smith boycotted, #OscarsSoWhite took over Twitter, and all eyes turned to Chris Rock, 2016's chosen Academy Awards host. A lot of speculation occurred: Would he join Jada and quit? Would he avoid mentioning the controversy altogether?

Nope and nope.

Rock saw his chance and took it, starting off with, "I’m here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the White People’s Choice Awards," and explaining why he'd kept the hosting gig in the face of controversy with, "I realized they’re gonna have the Oscars anyway. They’re not gonna cancel the Oscars because I quit. You know? And the last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart, OK?"

The real zingers came later in his monologue, however, when he tried to give some historical context to the current controversy:

"It’s the 88th Academy Awards, which means this whole no-black-nominees thing has happened at least 71 other times. OK? You gotta figure that it happened in the '50s, in the '60s ... and black people did not protest. Why? Because we had real things to protest at the time, you know? We had real things to protest; you know, we’re too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won best cinematographer. You know, when your grandmother’s swinging from a tree, it’s really hard to care about best documentary foreign short. This year, in the In Memoriam package, it’s just going to be black people that were shot by the cops on their way to the movies."

It is, arguably, the most anticipated and memorable Oscars opening, and it should overshadow anything about Leonardo DiCaprio (I still heart you Leo, but this is important). It's no secret that racism in the United States is real and multifaceted -- from police violence to the silencing of black voices in entertainment -- and Rock's bold addressing of these issues on such a prominent platform is something that should be commended. It's not a one-time deal we're looking for, he explained:

"What I’m trying to say is, you know, it’s not about boycotting anything. It’s just, we want opportunity. We want black actors to get the same opportunities as white actors. That’s it. Not just once. Leo gets a great part every year and, you know, everybody, all you guys, get great parts all the time. But what about the black actors?"

The monologue in its entirety is funny, but it's also very real and an important take on racism in Hollywood. A full transcript is available here.