Despite not garnering a nomination during his nine years on the beloved sitcom, Jaleel became a national sensation as he warmed the hearts of millions.
In a recent interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the 44-year-old revealed that he was discouraged from attending the awards ceremony, and was “never invited, even to present.”
“It’s fair of me now to definitely say … you were made to feel African-American,” he admitted.
Jaleel also spoke of another child star of the late 80’s early 90’s, Fred Savage, who was a white lead in the television series The Wonder Years.
He said: “Fred Savage was always invited to the Emmys; he was always treated like a darling during his time.
“I was never invited to the Emmys, even to present. It was pretty much told to us I would be wasting my time to even submit myself for nomination.
“It was so normalized — you just shrugged and was said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s for the white kids.'”
Family Matters debuted in 1989, with Jaleel playing the iconic Steve Urkel from the young age of 12.
The comedy ran for nine years until 1998, but was only nominated once for outstanding special visual effects in 1996.
Though official recognition never happened for the cast of the show, Jaleel feels the fan reaction and adoration offered some solace.
He gushed: “I always took tremendous pride in how many different people, from all walks of life, came up to me and recognized Family Matters.
“I was always really, really proud of that because that showed a complete opposite of the way I was being treated by our television elite.”
The actor expressed hope that future black creators ensure their content is broad enough to reach all cultures so they can be recognized widely for their efforts.
He said: “I even try to make sure I encourage African-American filmmakers today like, don’t forget, we want to tell Black stories, but we want to make these themes universal enough that our Black stories can resonate with other people, other cultures.”
Family Matters told the story of The Winslow’s, a middle-class African American family who lived in Chicago.
Though Jaleel joined the cast half-way through the first season with the intent of being a one-time character, the fan response was so enthusiastic that Steve Urkel became the breakout role for the series.
The show itself became the second-longest-running non-animated sitcom with a predominantly African American cast, following The Jefferson’s and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.
