“Beyond the Gates,” daytime’s first ever nearly all-Black soap opera in over 30 years has officially made it’s television debut and fans (including this author) can’t help but to rave about it. But seeing this truly historic show garner new viewership made us ponder upon the rest of the soaps that we all grew up watching that weren’t so melanated.
Whether you were committed to the CBS crew which included “Guiding Light,” “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and “As the World Turns—or loyal to ABC’s slate of “All My Children,” “One Life to Live,” and “General Hospital,”—what’s beyond clear is that while those shows had a few Black characters, the storylines mostly revolved around white families. But, that doesn’t mean that we have beef!
In fact, because most of our parents and great grandparents had these shows on rotation, these families of another hue became staple faces as we grew up and if we’re honest, we’ve grown fond of a few memorable characters as the years went on.
So it’s in that vein that we felt it fitting to take a look a handful of white characters that stole our hearts, whether they’re on the good side or the opposite. So grab a cup of coffee (or a drank) and get ready to go down memory lane, because this is gonna be good!