Has Abby Lee Miller lost her mind? A lot of people seem to think so. This week,"'Dance Moms" sparked controversy not only online, but also in the bleachers. When Abby Lee Miller announced to her team that they'd be doing a recreation of "The Help," a movie and book based on racism, the reactions were mixed. The reactions became even more mixed when Abby announced that the maids would be played by Nia and Cameron, the only black girls on the team. Cameron was added to the team earlier this season, and before that Nia was the only African American dancer.

Divided moms

While Camille and Holly were clearly disappointed in Abby's decision, the other, whiter moms seemed more accepting. During the episode, Jill was involved in some pretty heated discussions about race, race relations, and the current state of America. She also claimed at one point that she thought Brynn, Kendall, and Kalani were more likely to face backlash for playing socialites than Cameron and Nia would for playing maids. However, Holly did say many times that she was glad that she and her friends were able to have these conversations together.

Abby's history of racial insensitivity

This isn't the first time that Abby's choices and words have gotten her into trouble. She and Holly have butted heads several times before because of Nia.

In the earlier seasons, Holly expressed concerns that Abby was typecasting Holly and treating her different than her other teammates. Last season, Abby said that she was surprised that Nia wasn't doing better with an African dance routine because she "looked the part".

Public reaction

Fans of the show took to Twitter to call out Abby and some of the other moms.

Dance results

The episode ended with the new dance routine winning first place in the group category.

Nia said after her performance that she was really proud of herself. Jill also claimed that people shouldn't question Abby anymore because she knows what she's doing.

Dance Moms airs every Tuesday at 9/8c on Lifetime Television.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED