Read This: How a controversy over diversity ultimately helped SNL

Just a few seasons ago, Saturday Night Live had only two African-American cast members, neither of whom was female. Unless either Kenan Thompson or Jay Pharoah agreed to wear a dress, the show did not even have someone to play Michelle Obama in a sketch. But boy, were there plenty of white guys available to play Matthew McConaughey. The show was heavily criticized, especially on social media, for its perceived homogeneity. Today, in part because of its response to the public outcry, SNL has the most racially diverse cast in the program’s four-decade history. In an article for Vanity Fair, writer Joanna Robinson argues that this has been a good thing for the show. Though Saturday Night Live did not diversify of its own accord or on its own terms, ultimately the controversy proved to be a much-needed wake up call for the show. The influx of African-American cast members has allowed SNL to do some meaningful, incisive commentary on race, such as a recent sketch addressing the lack of diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees.