To me, I read this as people seeing the accomplishments of white men as legitimate and anything else purely as optics.
I do think there is probably an element of pandering to an audience that goes on, but I'd love to see some evidence or just hear some more of your thoughts on this one.
That is the evidence you asked for, you're welcome. It's not a white / non-white question at all, as you can see.
But I don't think I've ever seen any actual evidence that the merits of non-white, non-male people are any less than their counterparts. Most responses I see are talking more broadly about "PC culture".
I think this could also be a case of
a) More non-white, non-male, "othered" people working in media b) More of an audience for that content than ever, enabling people that fit different profiles to make movies
As long as a mob force exists that alters that equation, you'll have at least minor distortion.
It could well be that without the mob the award candidates would've been exactly the same, but we won't know.
I think with something like The Oscars, the fact that the film/TV industry take it seriously is merit enough to pay attention to who wins awards.