The year was 2006. Smartphones werent a thing; neither was Twitter or Instagram. Facebook had not yet expanded past college campuses. But when CBS announced the twist for the 13th season of Survivor in August, the blogosphere went berserk.

To take the social experiment to a different level and admittedly fix the lack of diversity on the show executive producers Mark Burnett and Jeff Probst decided to turn the quest for $1 million into a war of the races for Cook Islands, dividing 20 castaways into four tribes by race and ethnicity: Asian-American, Black, Latino and white.

As compelling as the idea sounded to the production team, it was immediately criticized by the media and loyal viewers. A group of New York City officials and civil rights groups blasted the segregation island concept, saying it would only promote divisiveness. The shows network news side even deemed it controversial, with CBS News Early Show host Harry Smith questioning Probst about the season .

Although the ratings were lower than usual , 17.7 million people still tuned in to watch race wars play out during the season premiere. In the first few moments of Cook Islands, Probst alerted the unknowing group of castaways to the theme and split them into their respective tribes. But, by Episode 3, the four groups integrated into two tribes and the game played out as usual. That was, until halfway through the 39-day journey when two white contestants decided to leave to rejoin their original white allies in the other tribe, leaving four contestants of color Yul Kwon, Becky Lee, Oscar Ozzy Lusth and Sundra Oakley to battle it out, David vs. Goliath style, until the merge.

In a memorable finish, Kwon, Lee, Lusth and Oakley made it to the final four, with Kwon narrowly beating Lusth for the title of Sole Survivor and the cash prize.

Nearly 14 years later, one cant help but imagine what the discourse would be if Cook Islands were to air today. Race relations are once again front and center in the national debate as many people examine unforgivable instances of racial profiling and police brutality against the Black community.

HuffPost spoke to Cook Islands cast members Lusth, Jenny Guzon-Bae and Nate Gonzalez about that and much more of their experiences on Season 13 of Survivor.