Jaleel White's Professor Got This Wrong About “Family Matters”: 'Like Comparing “Seinfeld” to “Full House”' (Exclusive)

In an exclusive excerpt from his new memoir, 'Growing Up Urkel,' the actor shared an incident in film school that made him "deeply uncomfortable"

You know Jaleel White's face. You know his voice. And now, he's sharing his story in a new memoir.

In Growing Up Urkel, out Nov. 19 from Simon & Schuster, the Family Matters star takes readers through his journey as a child star who grew up as one of the most recognizable characters on TV at the time.

He auditioned for the role of Steve Urkel when he was just 12 years old, and the character was originally only supposed to appear in one episode. But White snapped his suspenders right into the hearts of viewers and "catapulted Urkel into the pantheon of American pop culture," the book's synopsis reads. He'd spend the next nine years playing the "nasally nerd in high water pants, suspenders and coke bottle glasses."

In his new book, White lays out how "success can cost as much as it pays" and how he navigated the "peaks, valleys and plateaus of fame and fortune."

Below, in an exclusive excerpt and audiobook clip shared with PEOPLE, White shares what happened when Urkel came up in one of his UCLA film school classes and how his iconic character didn't represent the trope the professor suggested it did.

During my junior year, I took a class titled "History of Broadcast Television in America" that was required for the film school. It was a huge class, with close to 200 students packed into the lecture hall, and it was taught by a woman of color. I was diligently taking notes, head bent over my spiral-bound notebook.

The TA was going through the history of television and she got to the shows of TGIF: 'Full House,' 'Step by Step,' 'Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper,' 'Sister, Sister,' 'Boy Meets World,' and yes, 'Family Matters.' She began discussing the Black shows, in particular, and I started to get nervous taking my notes.

She started describing Steve Urkel as a “sambo” that was designed to cater to white audiences in a non-offensive and entertaining way. She said that the character was created to make white viewers more comfortable watching a show about a Black family. Steve Urkel is no more a sambo than Dr. Huxtable. In my opinion, that lady had the thinnest of grasps on what she was talking about. 

Everybody around me knew I played that character. People were starting to look my way. Whispering to one another. You could hear some people gasp. Clear their throats. The TA remained oblivious and continued her condemnation of Urkel. I was deeply uncomfortable, and I was steaming. But I didn’t say a word. I wanted to say, "You don’t know a damn thing about television, how it’s produced, nothing. This whole class is a sham. I know it, because I work in TV. You’re preaching nothing but theory. No one created my character with those overreaching intentions."

Related: Jaleel White Explains Why Family Matters Will Never Get a Revival, Says It 'Belongs Only in the '90s'

Finally, the lecture ended, and I gathered my things, eager to get out of there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw several students go up to the front and speak with the TA. As I was walking out, the TA came up to me.

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“Hey ... I didn’t know you were in this class. I’m really, really sorry if you were offended by what I said. It’s not a personal attack. It’s just an academic assessment of...” And she went back into a bunch of academic horseshit. I tuned her out.

I’ve always had a slick mouth. God knows I used to roast other kids back in the day. But this was a person in a position of power, and I had learned to be respectful, deferential even, to those with authority. And really, what could I say? What would I have gotten out of telling her off? Through gritted teeth, I simply said, “Hey. Don’t worry about it. It’s just an opinion.”

I was studying film and television at UCLA, listening to the opinions of those outside of the business.

Related: The Cast of 'Family Matters:' Where Are They Now?

'Family Matters' became a hit in large part due to the characters of Steve Urkel/Stefan Urquelle. The show was beloved by a wide audience for almost a decade, but near the end, I could sense a shift, at least with my peers.

We all stand on the shoulders of those who’ve come before us. Would there be any of the Black shows on the fledging WB network when it launched in the mid-aughts if 'Family Matters' hadn’t been on the air for nine years? I would argue not.

I’m not saying there’s not a hard and honest conversation to be had about Black characterization in the history of television. But I am saying that Steve Urkel shouldn’t have been the punching bag for that.

'Family Matters' is a family sitcom. It’s written and produced in a way that appealed to families and younger viewers during a time when sitcoms were centered around the family structure. So, don’t compare it to 'Martin,' the irreverent TV show starring stand-up comedian Martin Lawrence. That’s like comparing 'Seinfeld' to 'Full House.' You wouldn’t do it. They are two very different shows with different goals, created by and for different demographics. It’s not for the exact same audience, nor is it trying to do the same thing. 'A Different World' was created to address the issues in Black college culture head-on, not to mention it had the advantage of being run by Black showrunners.

Related: Reginald VelJohnson Once Walked Out on 'Family Matters' over the 'Challenge' of Working with Teens

Shows like 'Family Matters' were losing step with cultural discussions as they were evolving in the mid to late nineties, and maybe that’s an indictment of the show, or maybe that’s the reality of a 30-minute family sitcom. We were on the air for nine seasons. A lot of cultural changes can and often do happen in nine years, and the format of our show was inherently limited. To put it plainly, we couldn’t keep up with societal shifts, but also, we weren’t meant to.

Remember, it’s not the place of the show, or any show, to offer representation of all Black experiences. Black people and people of color are not monolithic, yet, as a culture, we often have discussions as if they are. 'Seinfeld' doesn’t speak for all Jewish people. 'Friends' doesn’t speak for all white people. But no one ever thinks they should or did. They are not examined with that same lens.

From GROWING UP URKEL: A Memoir by Jaleel White. Copyright © 2024 by Jaleel White. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, LLC. Audio excerpt courtesy of Simon & Schuster Audio from the audiobook GROWING UP URKEL by Jaleel White, read by the author, published by Simon & Schuster Audio, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Growing Up Urkel by Jaleel White comes out Nov. 19 from Simon & Schuster and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.