Woman has perfect response to claims that it’s ‘inaccurate’ to have Black actors in Bridgerton

Period drama reimagining Bridgerton has made some serious waves since its Netflix debut in 2020 and returning for a second season in March 2022. Alarmingly, not everybody is on the same page the show spotlighting many people of colour.

Hailed as Gossip Girl-meets-Downton Abbey, Bridgerton is the first tv series media goddess Shonda Rhimes signed on to a multi-project deal with Netflix back in 2017.

In true Shondaland fashion, diversity has been a crucial feature of the series’ casting, leaving some viewers leaning on the incredibly outdated argument that people of colour shouldn’t feature as it isn’t ‘historically accurate’.

It’s not the first time the supposed issue of ‘historical accuracy’, with The Crown facing a lot of flack for trusting that their audiences can tell entertainment from real life. It seems to be the go-to argument for certain viewers once they are faced with content that makes them uncomfortable.

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In response to this, Twitter users are highlighting why these concerns are ultimately misguided, and that any artificial concern for history neglects to acknowledge that black people did in fact exist in the Regency period. Who knew!

Reporter Nadra Kareem clapped back to these discussions with ease, reminding critics that you have to look no further than the works of Jane Austen to find black representation in period fiction.

Actor Daniel York was one of many who doubled down on the multitudes of other things cynics should be concerned about outside of the inclusion of people of colour.

The author of the series Julia Quinn has praised the casting decision, telling People magazine that “it's incredibly important”.

She also explained that the show’s inclusion of Queen Charlotte - a real historical figure believed to have had “significant African ancestry” - was a powerful move that could help reimagine what the Regency period could have looked like.

"What if this was actually recognized and accepted at the time? What if she had used her position to elevate people of color to positions of power? What would society look like then?"

One writer also pointed out that if you’re going to be concerned about the historical existence of black people, you should also be concerned with the inclusion of modern music in many scenes.

Surely a greater concern should be that Ariana Grande is definitely not over two centuries old.

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