'Being iced out': Trina McGee opens up about racism she experienced on 'Boy Meets World'

Trina McGee, best known as Angela Moore on the '90s ABC sitcom "Boy Meets World," is opening up about how racism she experienced on the show still affects her decades later.

During an interview with Yahoo Entertainment published Thursday, McGee said she couldn't "shake the hurt of some words and situations that were said." McGee was the only Black main cast member on the popular sitcom.

"I feel like I’m always the one who had to squelch it and move on. 'You could get sued. You could get fired. You could ruin this person's career,'" McGee, 50, said. "What about me? What about all this stuff I’m taking and ingesting in me, and not really totally realizing how much it’s lowering my vibration, my self-esteem."

She continued: "I didn't say it 20 years ago but I'm saying it now. And honestly, I said it way before I knew any of the world's changes were about to happen."

Summer 2020 TV premieres: Here's when your favorite show returns, your new addiction starts

McGee first revealed on Twitter in January that co-star Will Friedle, who played Eric Matthews, called her "Aunt Jemima" while she was getting her hair and make-up done on set. She was on the receiving end of other racially insensitive comments over the years while working on the show.

"I don’t think that Will, at the time, really understood the depth of that… he’s not a Black woman," McGee said Thursday. "I didn’t have a hairdresser on the set of 'Boy Meets World.' All those little micro braids you see, I stayed up all night doing them right before I went on national television for myself.”

McGee said Friedle apologized multiple times over the years for his comment, adding that he didn't understand how his remark "would hurt me."

'Boy Meets World' star Danielle Fishel says 'none of us escape mom-guilt' in emotional essay

McGee played Angela, the best friend of Topanga (Danielle Fishel) and love interest of Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong), on the last two seasons of the show. During her run, the actress said she was treated differently than her fellow cast-members.

"I saw four white figures constantly moving, constantly getting invitations to conventions," she recalled. "So to me, that gave me the feeling that I’m kind of being iced out of something."

McGee reprised her role on Disney's recent "Girl Meets World" reboot and has since mended her relationship with Friedle and Fishel. Fishel admitted on Twitter to "being rude, cold, & distant" to McGee during the spin-off. (McGee said she hasn't heard from Ben Savage, who played Cory Matthews.)

"Over the last months with so much tension going on, (Friedle and Fishel) have really gone out of their way to check on me, show sincerity and healing," McGee tweeted in June. "I did not expect this but am grateful for this experience. Let the healing begin. Yes!"

McGee called it an example of "teaching culture" as opposed to "cancel culture."

"It really changed and affected their lives and their bubble," McGee explained to Yahoo Entertainment. "How they see things and what they say, and their responsibility of dealing with white privilege and white fragility."

Looking for books about racism? Experts suggest these must-read titles for adults and kids

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Boy Meets World': Trina McGee opens up about racism she experienced