most of whom don't watch the artsy fartsy films that are usually nominated. It's a ploy to increase viewership for the awards ceremony. Black Panther doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hades of actually winning.

And yes the fact that it's the first major Black Super Hero has a lot to do with it as others have already pointed out. Political correctness and everybody wanting to be on the right side of history is a huge factor.