Social media caught on fire after a clip from ’90s series Touched by an Angel showed an actress in blackface.

Popular for its Chicken Soup for the Soul-esque parable storytelling, the ’90s series starred Della Reese and Roma Downey, two angels who are sent to earth to help humans with their various problems. Downey’s character, Monica, was an angel-in-training who was learning how to empathize with humans’ plights, whereas Reese played Tess, Monica’s more experienced partner who helped steer Monica through her earthly training. But on one particular episode, “Black Like Monica,” Monica learns about racism by becoming Black and experiencing racism.

According to Atlanta Black Star, the episode is supposed to show Monica learning how lynching is tied to racial discrimination and racial violence–God transforms her into a Black woman to teach her more about racism and save the town from a hate crime overshadowing a civil rights celebration featuring Rosa Parks. But while this might have flown (or at least fell under the radar) in the ’90s, the resurfaced clip has angered today’s audience.

i had to send this to my group chat cuz they didn’t believe me lol. PLEASE. pic.twitter.com/znPrnqlnCO
— best coast bella (@CupUhTee) May 30, 2024

“Wooooow, I used to love this show,” wrote one commenter. “Della musta been out of the country when they did this episode.”

Another X user wrote, “So this is where Rachel Dolezal got her inspiration from lol.”

The clip even plays into the current political landscape, with a user writing, “And of course this actor is married to Mark Brunett-the man that has the recordings of trump during The Apprentice using racial slurs, but won’t release it.”

As of this post, Downey has not commented on the viral clip.

Della Reese

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week