Friends' six central characters were all white, and throughout its 10 seasons and 236 episodes, black performers were hardly ever seen in significant roles.
Aisha Tyler, the show's most well-known black actress, only featured in nine episodes while Lauren Tom, Gabrielle Union, Mark Consuelos, and Craig Robinson played minor supporting roles. Tyler played a professor of palaeontology who dated Ross and Joey.
"It was after what happened to George Floyd that I began to wrestle with my having bought into systemic racism in ways I was never aware of. That was really the moment that I began to examine the ways I had participated. I knew then I needed to course-correct," Kauffman said.
Marta Kauffman is donating $4 million to help Marta F. Kauffman '78 Chair in African and African American Studies at Brandeis University.
According to the LA Times, Kauffman's $4 million for the African and African American studies program will “support a distinguished scholar with a concentration in the study of the peoples and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora. The gift will also assist the department to recruit more expert scholars and teachers, map long-term academic and research priorities and provide new opportunities for students to engage in interdisciplinary scholarship".
“I've learned a lot in the last 20 years. Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It's painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I'm embarrassed that I didn't know better 25 years ago," Kauffman said.
Marta Kauffman mentioned getting "nothing but love" since making the announcement, adding, "It's been amazing. It surprised me to some extent, because I didn't expect the news to go this wide. I've gotten a flood of emails and texts and posts that have been nothing but supportive. I've gotten a lot of 'It's about time.' Not in a mean way. It's just people acknowledging it was long overdue."
Friends is an American television sitcom developed by David Crane and Marta Kauffman. The sitcom features an ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer.
(With ANI inputs)
