Cristela Jane the Virgin
Empire
Black-ish
Fresh Off the Boat
Scandal
How to Get Away with Murder

What do these seven shows have in common? They are critically acclaimed shows airing on broadcast television, but more importantly, they’re diverse, minority shows where nearly every lead on said show is NOT Caucasian. Earlier this week [3.24.15], Deadline Hollywood’s Nellie Andreeva published an article titled The Year of Ethnic Castings – About Time or Too Much of a Good Thing. It was later changed to The Year of Ethnic Castings, as you’ll see at the bottom of it. One can only assume that it was changed due to the outrage and scorn that it received, as simple search will show that.

The Hollywood Diversity Problem as I like to call it, has always been that. Yes, we’ve well-established ethnic stars like Halle Berry, Idris Elba, J-Lo, Ken Jeong, Gina Rodriguez, and Viola Davis but how often is it that ethnic stars lead their own TV shows and how often is it that these shows succeed. 2014 and 2015 have been a banner year for ethnic diversity on TV and it looks to continue. The success of the shows above, especially Empire, will see to that.

Culturally, the success of Empire is so important, because it has become a true phenomenon. It’s a drama starring primarily African-American performers on network television. It’s rare for a show like that just to get on the air, let alone be an enormous success. For example, from it’s pilot to season finale, Empire, increased in viewers, Rating/share, DVR viewers, Total viewers in the coveted 18-49 demographic, and Total Viewers. That’s nothing short extraordinary for a show of its caliber. After its first season finale, it surpassed The Big Bang Theory as the highest rated scripted program of the 2014-2015 season.

That’s why Deadline’s story is so frustrating; that a true breakthrough finally happens and the former headline reads, “Is This Too Much of a Good Thing?” a good thing?”

But, as is the case with any sea change, the pendulum might have swung a bit too far in the opposite direction. Instead of opening the field for actors of any race to compete for any role in a color-blind manner, there has been a significant number of parts designated as ethnic this year, making them off-limits for Caucasian actors, some agents signal. …

“Basically 50% of the roles in a pilot have to be ethnic, and the mandate goes all the way down to guest parts,” one talent representative said.

This string of statements has become the opposite of what Hollywood used to be. We had to accept white actors telling white stories that were to appeal to every American and like it. But somehow, white viewers can’t accept when the proverbial tables have turned, white viewers can’t handle the same? I don’t believe that and neither should you. I’m a black man with white girlfriend and she watches Empire with me. She’s told me time and again that she’s caught herself singing some of the songs on the show, especially the catchy Drip Drop. How’s that for white viewership being interested in black stories?

Why is Orange is the New Black, a show with an extremely diverse cast so damn popular? People are chomping at the bit for it some back. The lead is white. The show is based on a book written by a white woman but some of the most popular characters on the show aren’t white. “Crazy Eyes”, “Taystee”, Gloria, “Black Cindy”, Daya, Morello, and Poussey are someone’s favorite on the show. You could even make the case that “Crazy Eyes” or Poussey are the most popular on the show and the show has gone out of is way to expand on said characters.

A casting director can now say that they I feel as though the tide has turned and they can pitch any actor for any role and believe that that’s good. That’s not a good idea; it’s a great idea but the idea that embracing diversity will somehow be harmful to a tradition of white people on TV is laughable, and absurd. There will never come a day nor will there be a day that a white person turns on a TV and does not see him or herself represented. No, that’s a reality that ethnic communities have suffered through for decades and is now—thanks to a small group of television shows—only being marginally remedied.  Now what we should be fearful of is that we may soon see an influx of poorly conceived, unentertaining versions of Empire and Fresh Off the Boat. It’s a reactive effect of these shows success and we wouldn’t and shouldn’t want that. Confusion shouldn’t be our reaction when network executives demand more diversity. It feels odd to suddenly a successful non-white show do well and we should encourage it. Shonda Rhimes’s series and ABC have long proven that the talent pool contains many minority actors just waiting for a shot. There’ll never be a shortage of blonde white girls or Liam Hemsworths to fill roles but there’ll never be a shortage of minority actors either.

The change is welcoming but it’s just a start and a good one at that. Castings aren’t fair. Blatant tokenism isn’t fair. The question shouldn’t be as to why is this unfairness being brought but why did it take so long for diversity to finally come to the forefront of television? White actors will never truly be shut out of roles; Caucasians are still the majority population in America and still run Hollywood. It just looks as though Hollywood is finally learning.