Production of this episode was tense throughout due to the sensitive subject matter. Many of the cast and crew found the use of racist imagery to be unsettling. No one laughed during the entire table read of the script written by Glenn Berenbiem who is white. Berenbeim feared that he would be fired. Lou Myers felt that the episode should be scrapped. Cree Summer felt very uncomfortable wearing blackface which bothered Charnele Brown who felt it was an insult to her dark complexion.
The presentation given by Kim Reese's character are excerpts from a poem by Nikki Giovanni called Ego Tripping.