EXCLUSIVE: Tracee Ellis Ross Reflects on the Significance of Her Emmy Nom: 'It's Not Mine, It's All of Ours'
This is more than just an Emmy nomination for Tracee Ellis Ross -- it's practically a historical event.
ET caught up with the 44-year-old actress on Thursday morning after she received her Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for her role as Bow Johnson on the hit ABC series black-ish. Ross told ET's Nischelle Turner that she shares a very "personal connection" and "personal excitement" over the news.
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"The historical context of how this is situated in the journey of black women on television, and in this category of Lead Actress in a Comedy, both in terms of the roles that are there as the opportunity, and the stories that are being told, and in terms of nominations and that kind of acknowledgement, I feel like the impact of even just a nomination, it means a lot," Ross said, adding that the nomination is so much more than a solo effort on her end. "Truthfully, for me, I feel like it's not mine. It's all of ours. I do."
This is Ross' second consecutive Emmy nomination. In 2016, the black-ish star was the first black woman nominated in the category since The Cosby Show's Phylicia Rashad 30 years prior.
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The actress and daughter of the legendary Diana Ross added that any nomination or win by a black female truly feels like a "community moment."
"When any one of us wins, I feel like it's a win for me," Ross continued. "That's the way I experience it for myself. I really feel like this is something we have all done, all have wanted and all have worked for. We are sisters, side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, that deserve this just as much as I do. I don't take that lightly."
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Ross added that she is proud of her "traditional wife role" on black-ish.
"I don't think our industry and our world is doing a good enough job of truly representing the nuance, complexity and texture of who we are as women, and specifically as black women," she stated. "I can't speak for what it is to be a Latina woman, or an Asian woman or a Middle Eastern woman, but as a black woman, and a Jewish woman, for that matter… I have to say that this is a story that I'm happy and proud to be telling. I think it's all of ours. I do."
The star continued, "Being a woman in this moment right now feels very special. Not because anything is necessarily different in terms of the lives we are leading and living, but how we are being seen and the representation that exists. I feel very empowered by that."
The 69th Emmy Awards, hosted by the Late Show's Stephen Colbert, will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.