Ah so it was Viola who inspired the writer to write that part.
See this is why we need more POC as showrunners and writers. I'm not saying we cancel all the whites (but we probably should, J/K) but there should be a balance because the lead is a black woman so it should be authentic and real. I think on This Is Us (who also has a white showrunner), they did better with Randall's SL because he wasn't just on the show because they wanted to be diverse. His SL was detrimental to the show and I thought it was written well.
For HTGAWM, I do have to say this is the only show where I've seen more diversity and even if the writing's a mess, there's focus on race, women and LGBTQ. Some of the best scenes on the show were of AK in court and tearing down the justice system.