Persia White Reveals Favorite ‘Girlfriends’ Episodes as Show Turns 25 (Exclusive)

Persia White is looking back on her favorite episodes of Girlfriends as the hit series celebrates its 25th anniversary. 

The 52-year-old actress is known to fans as the free-spirited Lynn Ann Searcy on the sitcom, and has had her fair share of favorite moments from the series, which aired for eight seasons from September 2000 to February 2008. 

However, she tells PEOPLE the ones that still stand out tackled important societal issues. 

“Ironically, it was the last episode,” White says. 

“One of the storylines was Lynn was trying to finally get her music together and doing her record deal. So excited. And then Chrisette Michele was on there, who I love, such a beautiful person, too,” White tells PEOPLE of when the Grammy winner, now 42, guest-starred as herself in the final season.

Unfortunately for Lynn, her label decided to push the “Epiphany” singer instead because Lynn “didn’t sound Black enough,” says the biracial actress.

“It was about colorism within the music industry and bias and what we go through,” White tells PEOPLE. Colorism refers to discrimination where individuals of the same race receive benefits or disadvantages based on their skin tone.

“And to me that was really special because of the things that we talk about and deal with,” White says. “Everybody there had gone through that. All of my fellow actors had gone through that.” 

The actress tells PEOPLE she had real-life experiences where she was told “you don’t sound Black enough, or you don’t look Black enough,” and it would leave her feeling “so offended,” but she tried to stay cordial for the sake of her career.

“I’m trying to politely go, ‘What do you mean by that? Yeah, because first of all, I’m from the Caribbean,’” White tells PEOPLE.

She adds that she’s still thankful Girlfriends was able to shed light on those issues. 

“There were so many lovely things, but I really loved the way we dealt with color, even within the Black community,” she says of the series, which was created by Mara Brock Akil.

Girlfriends followed the lives of four Black women who were best friends living in Los Angeles, dealing with all of the highs and lows life threw their way. 

The series starred Tracee Ellis Ross as attorney Joan Clayton, Jill Marie Jones as realtor Toni Childs-Garrett and Golden Brooks as Joan’s assistant, Maya Wilkes. Reggie Hayes was cast as William, an attorney at the firm Joan worked at and a close friend of the ladies.

“I felt like it was such a gift,” White tells PEOPLE of being part of the Girlfriends cast. “Laughing all day and then hitting hard topics and getting upset and having conversations.”

She also stresses that “Mara fought really hard for us. Like, that’s something to be known. She fought hard.”

She says it took her some time to realize what Akil, 55, went through behind the scenes to get a show with five Black leads on air back then. 

“And she was just young and just one woman. And in this industry, it’s not easy. I’m totally aware now,” White tells PEOPLE. “I think because we were all babies and we didn’t have any clue, we didn’t know what she was going through to that degree. I felt like we’re like, ‘Why can’t we say this? And why can’t we? What’s the deal?’ And she’s like, ‘I am trying so hard, you guys have no idea what I’m going through on my end to even get this cast together.’ She had friction in all directions.”

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Since the show ended in 2008, the ladies have come together on recent projects, making cameos with Ross, 52, on black-ish as well as starring in a PATTERN Beauty ad over the summer.

Girlfriends is currently streaming in its entirety on Netflix.