'Empire' season 3 news, spoilers: 'Did you forget that you're black in America?' — writer discusses racial profiling episode

The latest episode of "Empire" season 3 tackled the hot-button issues of police brutality and racial profiling in the United States. The musical drama follows in the footsteps of such shows as "Orange Is the New Black," "UnREAL," and "Black-ish," all of which have done so in previous seasons.

In the second episode of its current season, "Empire" took on the sensitive but relevant issues head-on in a scene in which Andre (Trai Byers), the eldest Lyon son, was racially profiled by white police officers. Poor Andre, who had just lost his wife Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday), was cleaning out his old apartment when he was confronted by a couple of police officers looking into a string of break-ins in the neighborhood.

Not knowing that it was his own property he was moving stuff from, the cops grabbed Andre, who was leaving to get an I.D. from his car, and threw him to the pavement. They handcuffed him and even pointed a gun in his face.

According to "Empire" co-producer Carlito Rodriguez, who co-wrote the episode, the scene is reminiscent of the real-life 2009 arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a prominent historian, public intellectual, and TV host. Similarly, Gates was arrested by a white police officer who thought that he was burglarizing what turned out to be his own home.

"We wanted to talk about how the Lyon family deals with [issues of] class," Rodriguez told TV Line, adding, "Just because they left the hood, are they immune to some of the [realities]?"

He also explained that the "Empire" team felt that Andre was a good entry point for taking on the issues of police brutality and racial profiling because the eldest Lyon son has so far been a law-abiding citizen and has been critical of his father's criminal history.

"He's [a] proper, respectable young man," Rodriguez noted and added, "So we wanted to challenge him with, 'Do you think you're immune? Did you forget that you're black in America?'"

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the "Empire" writer said that Andre's experience will influence and impact his psyche, just as Rhonda's recent death has. However, will his encounter with law enforcement reinforce his belief in abiding by the law or will it change his outlook completely?

"You think about Andre as this put-together, buttoned-up Wharton M.B.A. dude, but let's not forget what he's been exposed to," Rodriguez said, adding, "He was hiding guns in Legos because his dad asked him to."

"Empire" season 3 airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. EDT on FOX.