‘Southern Charm’: Leva Bonaparte Is on The Right Side Of History. Are You? – Decider

At the beginning of Southern Charm Season 7, Leva Bonaparte told me (more than once) that shes not for everyone. Its in her Instagram bio, its a fact shes abundantly aware of, and its a way of life. Shes likely never felt that way more than now that shes just one episode away from the end of this season of the Bravo series.

Viewers have been divided on her addition to the show. I, clearly, am not. I am 100% in support of her presence and every step shes taken along the way. Ok maybe the bathing suit coverup she was wearing in the latest episode wasnt my favorite look of hers this season, as she is usually impeccably dressed. But hello, this was a pool day, and other than that, Leva has been not only a fun new friend in this group, shes been entirely essential.

Heres why: Without Leva, the only, and I mean the only drama we wouldve been watching was that of Austen and Madison. Did you really need another season of this show centered around two people who clearly will not work out bickering at each other? I, for one, did not. If they have finally seen the light and know well enough to stay away from each other then Im glad we lived through this for hopefully the last time. Other than that, their drama is old, boring, toxic, and super unnecessary.

Southern Charm had to address two major topics this year: the pandemic, which they did and did well! by showing that several cast members actually contracted coronavirus last spring; and more importantly, the Black Lives Matter movement, which they did by having Leva authentically show her support for the cause. Charlestons long history of slavery and racial discord, and the confrontation of those topics, is one that cannot be understated. Through the lens of this show, that meant addressing the unfortunate yet impeccably timed incident where Kathryn Dennis sent the monkey emoji as well as several other offensive DMs to a black radio host.

Levas main crusade throughout the course of the season has not been to cancel Kathryn. I truly dont believe anyone wants to do that, as most of this group loves and cares for her as a friend. Leva has been tasked both as a personal friend and (by producers) as a cast member with trying to help Kathryn see where she went wrong and how she can remedy the situation. From what weve seen so far, she has been relatively unsuccessful.

On one hand, it appears Kathryn is learning that what she said was wrong, and why. I have tried my best to believe that Kathryn is not an intentionally racist person instead, I fully believe she is a product of her environment. Her ancestors were slaveowners. That is a historical fact. Some of that messaging has likely trickled down through the generations. But that doesnt have to be the end all be all for Kathryn, and thats what Leva has set out to emphasize. Its natural Kathryns reaction would be to retreat and get defensive, especially when she feels outnumbered. But I believe the majority of those women want the best from her and want to show, through this incident, that you can learn from your mistakes and use this moment to really open your eyes; to take in whats happening around you, and say I messed up, and I am committing to being a fully nonracist person moving forward. Kathryn has done about 1.5 of those things the last thing Leva is encouraging (not demanding) is that she apologize in person to her friends and move along with a commitment to being more aware in the future. Truly, instead of pointing fingers and canceling her, Leva is giving Kathryn the opportunity to be a role model though Kathryn seems awfully reluctant to take it.

So now, if you are publicly sharing your distaste for Leva (check the #SouthernCharm hashtag on Twitter for ample evidence of this), I need you to take a really deep breath and ask yourself why. Does any part of that have to do with the fact that she herself is a nonwhite woman, who is also married to a Black man? Or is it simply the fact that she is asking not just her friends, but all of us, to confront our thoughts, views, and understanding of racism in this country? Because guess what? Doing that is not fun! Its not cute! It doesnt make for sexy, salacious reality TV that we turn to when we want to turn our minds and the latest news off. Its very hard to do. But that is the whole entire point of the BLM movement. And if this show declined to address that, wow would it be a glaring omission, one that would be doing a whole lot more damage than simply asking your friends to recognize racism. The whole point of this storyline, of this point in time, is that WE MUST BE DOING THIS WORK.

Throughout the entire season Leva has done nothing but consistently speak the hard-to-confront truth. She is on the right side of history. Her scene with Shep in the kitchen of that gorgeous house is the perfect example. Shep is many of us: just wanting to have a good time and believe the best of people. But Leva took a very measured approach with him, explaining why this is actually no longer acceptable. As friends, we have to confront those we care about when they arent seeing things clearly. Just as youd tell a friend that they have some spinach in their teeth, we have to tell them when they also have some racist tendencies in their mouth. Some might not love the fact that Leva talks a lot, and well ignore those misogynistic undertones and simply acknowledge, thats because theres a lot to say.

There are few people that wouldve been as well equipped to be presented as the bad guy of the group as Leva is. Are you mad because she told Austen to shut the fuck up, when in all honesty, he did not know what he was saying? Because were watching with our own eyes as the guys realize, oh wow, we really have buried our heads in the sand over this one. Leva was right: its white privilege at its finest. And I believe her calm explanation of that has likely opened up their eyes enough for the guys to also admit shes right. Watch that scene on the boat again: Leva wasnt being a mean girl to Kathryn. She was offering her advice even when she doesnt owe that to her in the first place.

I know, its a bummer when a reality show is addressing real things. Id love to go back to the days when we were simply watching Kathryn twirl around in fancy dresses. But theres a lot of work to do before we get there, and Leva has done a damn good job of trying to explain that. Sure, watching a statue come down might not be everyones idea of a fun Thursday night viewing, but its awfully telling that no one else from this cast showed up to that historic moment. Maybe someone shouldve brought a keg of Trop Hop and itd be a different story. And I know, watching a group of women at brunch discussing how to address their friends unfortunate incident is just not as much fun if that incident doesnt involve some sex or partying. But guess what, this incident has much longer-lasting implications than a drunken hookup.

Its beyond important that Leva has brought a new diverse group into this show via her pals, especially welcome addition Venita Aspen. Shes opened up viewers to new cultures other than Rich White Dudes and some people are just now learning that there even are other cultures than Rich White Dudes. And there are! The show has to evolve, and without her, it only wouldve taken steps backward. While the message isnt fun or sexy, Leva deserves a lot of credit for her delivery. Shes been factual and concise and for the most part, actually very measured in her approach when others wouldve and couldve been a whole lot wilder and louder with the likely passion and frustration Leva is feeling. Southern Charm deserves props for handling the BLM content as well as they have; they did it without making it an afterschool special but by highlighting how our own friend groups might react: ignoring it, having difficult conversations, leaning into it, and trying to help our own friends through it. At the core of it, theres not actually much to dislike about Leva: shes smart, shes a successful businesswoman, again, that fashion is on point, and most of all, she seems to really care about other people. If you are still stuck on disliking her, really and truly examine within yourself why that is, because the rest of us are moving along and dont advise you to stay stuck in the past with your unnecessarily hateful feelings.

Southern Charm airs Thursday at 9 pm ET/PT on Bravo.

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'Southern Charm': Leva Bonaparte Is on The Right Side Of History. Are You? - Decider