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'Law & Order: SVU' Season 22 Premiere: Is Olivia Benson racist? Fans jump to her defense after she admits bias

'Big ups to Olivia Benson, diggin deep down and realizing how shitty her job is towards black people. Every cop in America needs to take notes! #LawAndOrderSVU,' a fan wrote

Spoilers for 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 22 Premiere

The 2020 fall season has meant that there has been a lot of changes to television after the events over the past year. Both the pandemic and the Black Lives Matters protests have forced creators to look deeply at what they are depicting, especially the latter event. Special focus would of course be on police procedurals and how they would handle all that has been brought up over the last year. 'Law & Order: SVU' was no different and we are pleased to say that the NBC drama went much further than any other show – even its network sister show, 'Chicago PD' – in looking at the systemic racism that exists in the country and within the police and how it has affected the concept of law and order in society.

At the center of it all is Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and even though she is clearly the most-loved cop character on TV, the show did not let her escape the lens either as she is forced to confront her own bias after her team leads the arrest of an innocent Black man at the beginning of the episode. When she is questioned by the Internal Affairs Division, Olivia admits that she is not racist, but when it is pointed out to her that she treated the Black man and the White woman (who called the cops on him) at the scene differently, her arguments are less convincing.

Of course, Olivia's acceptance of her own bias was met with mixed reactions. Admittedly, even if she is a fictional character, Olivia is one of the good ones -- and the way she admitted and reflected on her bias confirms that. However, some viewers found it hard to admit that Olivia might be racist – though that is not what the show intends. One viewer tweeted, "Listen. Olivia Benson is NEVER to be lumped in with the Karen’s of this world! EVER!!! She is a Queen!!!! Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. #LawAndOrderSVU @nbcsvu." Another wrote, "I’m not gone allow y’all to make Olivia Shanté Benson a racist. Now y’all not gone do all that @Mariska #LawAndOrderSVU #LawnAndOrder #SVU."

However, there were viewers who appreciated the direction 'Law & Order: SVU' has taken for its 22nd season and for its lead character. A viewer opined, "Sis read Olivia like that[.]IG they're going full Black Lives Matter tonight but I like it.. #LawAndOrderSVU." Another wrote, "#LawAndOrderSVU #SVU not me second guessing my girl Olivia Benson too now." A viewer tweeted, "Big ups to Olivia Benson, diggin deep down and realizing how sh*tty her job is towards Black people. Every cop in America needs to take notes! #LawAndOrderSVU."

'Law & Order: SVU' airs on NBC on Thursday nights at 9/8c.