Movies & TV

Vanessa Morgan changed the way Riverdale will write Black characters after calling out mistreatment

The series’ showrunner promises to do better.

Published on June 10, 2020

Riverdale star Vanessa Morgan proved that using your voice can make a difference.

The past weeks have been incredibly heartbreaking and frustrating for marginalized communities all over the country. The Black community has had to suffer through violence and discrimination, all while feeling unsafe around the people hired to protect citizens. Vanessa Morgan was the latest celebrity to call out issues of racism within her workplace today.

When Vanessa took to Twitter to voice her concerns with the way that the show treats its’ Black characters, she was met with praise from fans and colleagues. The series showrunner even addressed Vanessa’s concerns publicly on social media.

“Tired of how black people are portrayed in Media, tired of us being portrayed as thugs, dangerous, or angry scary people,” Vanessa wrote. “Tired of us also being used as sidekick non-dimensional characters to our white leads. Or only used in the ads for diversity but not actually in the show. It starts with the media. I’m not being quiet anymore.”

I’m not being Quite anymore. ✊🏽 #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/JXgJic4mrR

— Vanessa Morgan (@VanessaMorgan) May 31, 2020

Vanessa continued to spread her message in a series of reply tweets. The Riverdale fandom was supportive and grateful to the actress for her tweets.

But exactly, used as the token biracial bisexual

— Vanessa Morgan (@VanessaMorgan) June 2, 2020

Lmao too bad I’m the only black series regular but also paid the least 😂👏🏽 girl i could go on for days 🐸

— Vanessa Morgan (@VanessaMorgan) June 2, 2020

Fans trended #HearVanessaMorgan on Twitter and used the hashtag to voice their support for her.

three years later and vanessa is still asking for the same thing, the same treatement. it needs to change #hearvanessamorgan pic.twitter.com/7SSZWT8RAe

— stacie (@toniblossoms) June 4, 2020