Editorâs Note: Shonda Rhimes, the creator, screenwriter and executive producer of "Greyâs Anatomy", "Private Practice" and "Scandal", spoke to CNN about identity, and diversity in television. This interview has been edited for space and clarity.
By Sarah Springer, CNN
Shonda Rhimes on the diversity on her shows:
I think itâs fascinating to me that we still live in a world in which people truly believe that because someone is a different color than them, that they couldnât relate to them or have a similar experience. Thatâs the most bizarre thing to me.
As a black girl on television, 90% of the women on television are not the same color as you. Youâre relating to the experience of people who are not the same color as you. So why wouldnât that work in then reverse for white people? I find it fascinating that we think that the world doesnât work that way.
For me, âGreyâsâ was about me making a statement. I was making a television show that I wanted to watch and part of that was putting people of all colors in it so that you saw people like you on television.
So people suggesting that just because youâre a certain color that you couldnât write something or be relatable to different characters is sort of horrifying to me at this point.
 Itâs 2012: why are we still having this conversation?
On HBOâs âGirlsâ, and the controversy about the showâs lack of diversity:
I donât know if there is a responsibility on the part of the creator, I mean there is a responsibility on the part of the network.
Itâs very interesting to me that HBO didnât say: why isnât the show more diverse? We believe in diversity, so why donât we make this show be more diverse?
I think thatâs where I lay the fault. Â
Iâve seen âGirlsâ. I think itâs delightful, I love it. And I think Lena Dunham is tremendous and interesting and a really talented writer. She made a statement where she said [she] didnât want to try to represent experiences that were not [her] own, and what [she] knew was this.
The idea that she felt her experience wasnât relatable to anybody who wasnât white is disturbing to me. Because I watch the show- I find it delightful. So why couldnât one of those girls been Native American or Indian or Asian or Hispanic or black and it had been exactly the same story?
I donât understand why it would have to be a different story because the person was a different color.
On race in America:
Race matters, it does. It matters in a way that perhaps some of us arenât totally comfortable talking about and some of us are a little too comfortable talking about.
I mean really, why does it still matter?
I think it still matters because there are people who still remember a time in which there was a back of the bus.
I also think there is an unwillingness in this country to acknowledge the fact that a lot of what people like to consider racial issues are actually economic issues.
On âwhitenessâ in Hollywood:
The idea that thereâs this weird assumption of whiteness, that people are assumed [white] unless told otherwise, thatâs very strange to me.
Itâs a âHunger Gamesâ problem. Itâs the idea that people missed that Rue was African-American, and when they had found out that theyâd cast an African-American, they were like âOh my god, how can they?â
Itâs pervasive and I find it weird. I find it weird that as a country we assume people are white until told otherwise.
I donât know how you solve peopleâs assumption of whiteness, that whiteness is better than anything else, or more relatable than anything else.
Itâs so naĂŻve and so ignorant that I donât know how you overcome it.
On who should answer questions about diversity on television:
I think itâs really interesting that people always call me to ask: why arenât there enough African-Americans in television?
My response always is: âWhy donât you pick up the phone and ask some white guys? Why ask me, the black woman who casts black women, why there arenât more black women on television?"
I couldnât tell you, because Iâm busy casting them. Why donât we ask some of the white guys --many whom are lovely, wonderful guys who I know and who seem well--and ask them, because I guarantee you that would actually, probably do more to change things than asking me.