During Smith's season on "The Real World", which aired in 2001, she came into conflict with Mike Mizanin over views he related to Smith from his uncle, who opined that black people were slow and uneducated. Although Mizanin attempted to disown the comments as merely those of his uncle, Smith and their other housemate, Malik Cooper, who are both black, were offended. Coral and the other housemates went on to teach Mizanin about black culture, such as the life of Malcolm X.