Whether it’s crime dramas featuring emotionally unstable detectives or a tight-knit group of six friends building their lives in a big city, there are common trends in television. This year, T.V. is trending toward casting with more diversity.

Network television has been struggling for years to compete with cable, online streaming and piracy, with ratings dropping rapidly each year. When trying to increase viewership, broadcast networks can’t afford to lose any demographics.

A study done by UCLA found that programs with more diversity tend to have higher ratings, but as of 2014, most programs only had up to 10 percent diversity in their casts. According to the Census Bureau, almost half of Montgomery County is non-white, but when we tune into our favorite shows, casts didn’t typically reflect that.

As a community closely tied to the nation’s capital, we strive to be well-informed and well-educated. However, because the Whitman community is largely homogenous, we don’t always get firsthand exposure to diverse viewpoints. Authentic representation of minorities on T.V. gives communities like ours access to different perspectives. Without voices in mainstream media, it’s much harder for minorities to combat stereotypes or prejudice still prevalent in our country. Now, networks have started to change that.

In the last few years, shows featuring diverse casts have seen positive results. “Glee,” the hit show that Fox has aired since 2009, stars as diverse a cast as one can imagine. ABC’s “Scandal” and “How To Get Away With Murder” skyrocketed in ratings last year, both written by Shonda Rhimes and featuring African American women as lead characters. Even though we’ve seen some casting variety in the past, 2015 brings more to the table than ever before.

African American Oscar nominees Taraji Henson and Terrence Howard star in Fox’s “Empire,” which centers on the cut-throat world of the hip-hop industry. Ratings are steadily rising for the drama, with over 12 million people watching last week’s episode.

ABC’s current line-up includes “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Black-ish” and “Cristela”—a trinity of sitcoms focusing on families of color.

In “Fresh Off the Boat,” 11-year-old Eddie Huang freely quotes Tupac and sacrifices his mother’s Chinese food for Lunchables so that kids at school will sit with him. The show is unique in that it shamelessly overemphasizes stereotypes in a way that almost dispels them, highlighting that there’s much more to a person than just his or her race. The first primetime T.V. show about an Asian-American family in 20 years, “Fresh Off The Boat” has been Tuesday night’s highest-viewed comedy for three straight weeks.

“Cristela” follows Mexican-American Cristela Alonso, a law student trying to balance her home life with her professional one. From being mistaken as the household help to battling judgment at work, Alonso’s experiences shed light on everyday prejudice of which we may not be aware.

The fight to maintain identity is addressed humorously in “Black-ish,” as Dre Johnson (Anthony Anderson) worries about his kids staying in touch with their heritage in their suburban, upper-class world. Rich with messages about the value of cultural identity, “Black-ish” has a comfortable way of dealing with hard-hitting themes like racism and assimilation—ideas that aren’t usually talked about on popular T.V.

When it comes to tackling stereotypes, the first step is addressing them. Fortunately, television this year is starting to do just that. Families like the Huangs and the Johnsons aren’t typically seen on screen, and their introduction is a long-awaited change. Primetime now stars casts that portray America with a little more accuracy, and this fresh wave of diverse T.V. is a welcome sign for the future.