Mahree reacts with horror bordering on panic when confronted with this new situation, and locks herself in Piper's bedroom when she is brought to the Dellums' home.

Roscoe, who decides to play peacemaker, chalks up Mahree's reaction as a misunderstanding and culture shock, while telling Ron and Piper that they have been judgmental as well.

Secretly, Mahree shows her an ANC flag sewn inside her coat, signifying her decision to side with the Black liberation movement.

[1] The film is based on two separate instances in which the Dellums family hosted a white South African teenage girl as an exchange student.

[7] Lynne Heffley of the Los Angeles Times praised the cast and called the film "surprisingly compelling", and stated that while it is "frequently predictable", it "delves unexpectedly deeper, too.

[9] Ramin Zahed of Variety praised the cast and noted the "smart usage of '70s songs" as well as Herriot's "picture-perfect production design.

"[1] Scott Hetrick of the Sun-Sentinel called the film "entertaining and enlightening," stating that it had a "terrific story that is wonderfully told and thoroughly fulfilling.

[10] Paul Schultz of New York Daily News wrote that the film "grapples with apartheid head on, yet incorporates it into an engrossing, and touching, family story."

Schultz further wrote that the "changes of heart" between Mahree and the Dellums family are "most affecting" and that the "story and the human dynamics here are so inherently dramatic that the heartfelt script seems to write itself.

Page stated, "It's totally fair that The Color of Friendship is one of the most lauded installments in the Disney franchise," writing that the film features a "comparatively unflinching look at race relations" and that it "scores extra points for refusing to shy away from the more difficult sides of racism, making sure to drive home the harsh realities of racially-motivated violence.

"[14] That month, Ariana Bacle of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Disney Channel "took a risk by unapologetically making a completely necessary albeit heavy statement about prejudice with one of their kid-focused films, and it was well worth it.