Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community which Black TV characters they think deserve more appreciation.
Here are 17 of their top answers:
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
1. "Sydney from The Bear. She's the best!"
2. "To be fair, this show is full of incredible Black characters and actors, but Mr. Johnson on Abbott Elementary (William Stanford Davis) MIGHT be the funniest character on the show!"
3. "Winnie the Bish [Winston Bishop] from New Girl!"
4. "Mercedes Jones [from Glee]. Do I really need to explain why?"
"Mercedes Jones was more talented than Rachel and had to put up with her microaggressions and losing everything to her, including her best friend and boyfriend."
5. "Louis de Pointe du Lac on AMC's Interview with the Vampire!!!!!! He's the most beautiful, stunning character in the entire world."
6. "Michonne and Sasha from The Walking Dead. Not only were they the most badass characters, they were put through ringer after ringer."
"And then, of course, the 'fan' hate that Michonne received after she and Rick got together on the show (that writing didn’t do their relationship justice)."
7. "In the [Doctor Who] episode "The Family of Blood," Joan [the school nurse] is incredulous that Martha can be a medical professional because of her skin color (which, as a woman in the same field, being dismissive on generalization grounds makes her a massive hypocrite). Martha quickly shuts her up by naming the bones in the human hand and pointing to each as she names it."
"After a storyline [in the previous episode "Human Nature," where Martha and the Doctor were hiding out in 1913] where fellow housekeeper Jenny is the only one not to be dismissive or racist to her (and poor Jenny gets possessed by an alien) it feels immensely satisfying."
8. "Joss Carter from Person of Interest is a badass, pure and simple."
"The justice crusade she went on in Season 3 was just iconic. Taraji P. Henson can have me in the scope of her rifle, and it'd be totally okay with it."
9. "Bonnie Bennett from The Vampire Diaries. She lost her whole family, died multiple times, saved all of her friends (and a few enemies) countless times, and was traumatized throughout the show. When she FINALLY got a romantic partner who loves her and puts her first, they killed him off before the series finale."
"And don’t get me started on how [Kat Graham] was treated behind-the-scenes."
10. "Elektra Abundance-Evangelista from Pose."
11. "Allura from the reboot of Voltron [Voltron: Legendary Defender]. She was literally one of the most important characters in the original. They reduced her to an afterthought in the reboot and had the audacity to kill her off in the finale when literally everyone else got a happy ending but her!"
12. "Definitely Tara and Lafayette in True Blood. Tara in particular had her life ruined time and time again by Sookie, thanks to her ongoing obsession with Bill and Eric."
"And then to kill her offscreen — that was just cruel."
13. "Kevin Atwater from Chicago P.D.! The way he navigates the world of being a Black man and a cop in today's world is really amazing."
"Watching him having those conflicts within himself, yet ultimately sticking to his values and what he knows is right, is very inspiring."
—cnf1
14. "Howard Charles as Porthos in the BBC series The Musketeers. Hands down the best Porthos I've ever seen in any adaptation. The show ended [in 2016], but it was three incredible seasons, and he was just indescribably good."
15. "Diggle from Arrow. His friendships with the other characters were just so great to watch."
16. "J. August Richards [as Charles Gunn] in Angel — SO amazing!!!"
17. And finally: "Kendra from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Another badass played by the flawless Bianca Lawson who was done dirty with a [dull] death at the hands of Drusilla after only two appearances! 😒"
Which of these characters is your favorite? Which other Black TV characters do you think are severely underrated? Let us know in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.
Black History Month is here! Join us from Feb. 1 to Feb. 29 (or all-year round) and support our content celebrating the culture.
