Civil rights activist Julian Bond shared in a guest column about his regrets from when he hosted 'SNL' in 1977 and diversity on the show

Civil rights activist Julian Bond hosted Saturday Night Live during its second season back in April 1977, and now he's speaking out about how race was involved in his appearance back then and his thoughts on the hiring of new African-American cast member Sasheer Zamata and writers LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones.

In a The Hollywood Reporter guest column, Bond, a professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, shared his thoughts on the race issue involved with the show:

"There are sure to be those who think that their race, not their talent, won them their jobs," he wrote. "The women were hired after an explosion of outrage at SNL's shameful record of minority employment. Before Zamata was hired, in the 39 years since SNL began in 1975, the show had 137 castmembers. Only 14 of those were African-Americans, and only four of those were women."

Bond brought up one skit in particular from the episode he hosted in which he was interviewed about black issues by cast member Garrett Morris on a mock television show. The bit included Bond arguing that light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks.

"Morris, who is darker skinned than I am, did a perfect double take," he wrote. "I felt squeamish then but did the skit anyway, and I feel uneasy about this joke even today. I believed it treaded dangerously on the fine line between comedy and poor taste."

He added: "Comedy is crucial in our lives, especially political satire. The ability to make fun of life's vagaries helps us deal with them. That may be why there are so many black and Jewish comedians and why their presence on the air is so important. SNL used to be on the cutting edge. Let's hope Ms. Zamata helps restore some of its sharpness."