Eboni K. Williams from The Real Housewives of New York is receiving an onslaught of mixed reactions from fans following her exchanges on the show. While many viewers sided with her after responding to LuAnn de Lesseps' "angry" comment, some were turned off by her seemingly pressing the race issue with her castmates. As the first Black housewife in the franchise cast during a year of worldwide protests for racial justice, Eboni had a lot weighing on her. However, there are a number of viewers who think she doesn't need to continue driving home a point that has already been made.
With season 13 being filmed during an international health pandemic and heightened racial tension following the death of George Floyd, Bravo deemed it necessary to finally cast their first Black housewife. The network didn't just cast anyone. Instead, it brought in a proud HBCU grad, licensed attorney, established news analyst, and expert diversity and inclusion moderator. Bringing Eboni into an entirely white cast of women who openly admitted to rarely traveling outside of their high-end NYC zip codes was sure to bring on some sensitive but much-needed discussions about race. Between Ramona Singer (who might get canceled) referring to her assistant as "the help", LuAnn and Ramona calling Eboni "angry", and Heather Thomson complimenting Eboni on how "articulate" she is, there were more than enough reasons why Eboni felt the need to educate her co-stars on the many microaggressions they were displaying.
In the latest episode, Eboni had a candid talk with Leah McSweeney, where she was told how intimidating she was coming off to the cast. Separate clips showed Sonja Morgan defending Eboni while also noting that she could talk about other things aside from race and America's history of racism. During Eboni's solo visit to Ramona's house, Ramona walked out of the room because she got tired of Eboni's "preaching." A number of fans took to social media with mixed reactions to Eboni's hard-hitting talks and there were a number of viewers who felt like Eboni was doing too much. "At some point Eboni is gonna have to stop making everything a teachable moment 😭 it’s becoming unbearable now," the @rhoasuperfan said.
Over on Reddit, one viewer explained why "Eboni’s “preaching” is different." While they acknowledged how most viewers "understand why it’s important" to have conversations about race, they noted how easy it is to "miss the petty bs that drew us in in the first place." When reviewing the last episode, the fan understood both sides of the spectrum. "All the women are saying they just want to connect with Eboni on a personal level and not feel like she’s always preaching/educating," they said before explaining where Eboni could be coming from. "I think that Eboni also wants to connect with these women on a personal level, but she feels like she can’t unless they understand how she sees the world and who she is in it, which I completely get."
As the Redditor puts it, when meeting new people and building relationships, it's normal to want to be genuine and authentic to all of who you are and what you represent. "With Eboni, her core values are very intertwined with race and social justice—not just because she’s a black woman, but because she’s dedicated so much of her life to black history, black excellence, and racial and social justice," they explained.
While Eboni from The Real Housewives of New York might come off "unbearable" to some, she's only being true to her life's work and what she feels is her purpose. That's not something she should be faulted for considering the climate the country was in during filming. Ahead of these episodes, Eboni took a break from social media because she knew that criticism was coming her way. It's nice that she was bold and brave enough to help open people's eyes and minds to some of the issues that often go overlooked.
Source: RHOA Superfan, Reddit