“On My Block” is a Netflix original that was released on March 16. It's centered around a group of four friends that are navigating their way through high school in a fictional town in southern California. The characters are all African American or Latino. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but for kids who don’t see themselves in the shows that they watch, it’s a big step in the right direction.

Growing up, watching TV, I didn’t really see people who looked like me that often.

I wasn’t able to relate to characters in the way that some of my peers were. Most shows, of course, had the one token [insert minority] character but what did that do? Typically this one character was incredibly stereotypical and didn’t get much airtime. How often have you seen an Asian character as a doctor or nerd? What about an African-American woman as the loud, funny, best friend? A Hispanic character as a maid?

Some popular shows include these harmful stereotypes. "2 Broke Girls" portrayal of the character Han Lee who manages the restaurant. Or in movies like "Green Mile" with the Michael Clarke Duncan's character. Even shows meant for young children include these. The popular show "Jessie" on Disney Channel includes the sassy little African American girl Zuri and the genius Asian brother Ravi. As well as the movie "Freaky Friday" where Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis' characters are in a Chinese restaurant where they meet Rosalind Chao's character who had a heavy accent (Chao does not) and she possessed some sort of magical powers. The list of stereotypes goes on and on.

See also: I'm The Little Indian-American Girl Who Wanted To See People Like Me On TV

What Netflix is doing with “On My Block” can start a chain effect of more shows like it. It’s so important for little kids to be able to look up at the big screen and see people that they can relate to outside of the stereotypical box roles. It’s rare that you see African-Americans, Asians, or Hispanics in lead roles.

Even when the character is supposed to be a person of color, a white actress or actor is still often cast. Movies like “Ghost in the Shell”, which was based on a Japanese project, had white actress Scarlett Johansson as the lead and the film “Argo” had Ben Affleck playing a Hispanic character.

“On My Block” as well as other shows and films that have recently started to come out (i.e. “Black Panther,” “One Day at a Time”) put minority characters on the screen with relatable real-life situations that they go through.

They allow minority stories to be told.

It’s important that we hear and see these stories because they offer the bigger picture, the real picture, of our world.