I want to make it clear that I am aware Steve grew over the course of the show but my god some of dialogue that Steve in many of the race episodes make me cringe and grosses me out. Like I get his character was meant to be spoiled rude jerk at times but damn it gets frustrating watching as a black viewer hearing him make comments like that.

Especially his “jungle fever” comments (he made that comment when Brandon was hanging out with Sherice and Andrea when she was with Jordan). Even in episodes where race isn’t the main topic (it was one of the themes though) like the Season 1 episode “One on One” the microagressions and Steve’s subtle racism irks the hell out of me. I know it was 90s and people weren’t having the complex conversations we have today but the fact that none of the characters called him out on his constant casual racism always rubbed me the wrong way.

Like I know it was the 90s and mass amount of suburban America and Hollywood weren’t educated whatsoever on these topics but damn it’s irksome. I mean I’m aware how microagressions and casual racism weren’t taken seriously back then (still an issue today but the lack of education made these comments worse IMO). The show nowadays is definitely known to have fucked up when it came to how they handled the race based episodes (and let’s not mention the racism behind the scenes in the writing room). But as a black viewer definitely taints the show a bit whenever I see stuff like that.