From Hank Azaria stepping down from playing Apu, an Indian American character on the Simpsons to Jenny Slate stepping away from her role as Missy, a mixed-race character on the Netflix show Big Mouth, white voice actors in Hollywood are stepping away from playing characters of a different race.
Chika Okoro, a public speaker, and activist believe that this is a step in the right direction in the pursuit of equity.
“Media plays a huge role in influencing people’s ideas and believes and thoughts,” she says, but that, “…Those that have the power to change things are starting to realize, ‘oh wait, you’re right, it was a problem.’”.