Chris Harrison, and Rachel Lindsay in the season 24 of the Women Tell All special.
When you are a lover of the data shows that it also happens to be Black, you come to expect certain things when watching a show like The Bachelor’s Degree In. You can cover the bets on the extent to which the Black contestants will because, unless the bachelor or bachelorette is particularly interested in them, it is not likely going to get you very far. I wonder how long it will take for them to be labeled as “aggressive” or featured as a villain to be honest. Also cautiously move through the #BachelorNation tag on Twitter for fear that other fans of the series will reveal their ugly sides when it comes to the contestants who are more like you than you’re accustomed to.
That is the sad reality for fans of color when it comes to enjoying Bachelor’s degree shows, and the former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay is very, very tired of it. “If we’re going to talk about Black Life Matters and what is important and how we need a systemic change. . . well, then let’s talk about a systemic change when it comes to The Bachelor’s Degree In. We have to change some things there, too,” Lindsay said during a AfterBuzz tv Reality TV interview the 5 of June.
“Ultimately, it was decided to be the Bachelorette, because I knew that it was the greatest opportunity I have.”
The only Black lead in the franchise’s 18-year history, Lindsay has always been vocal about his thoughts about the show, its lack of diversity, and how your brought from your season. “When I was invited to be the Bachelorette, I knew that this was asking something completely different of me. I finally decided to be the Bachelorette, because I knew that it was the greatest opportunity I”, I happened on your blog by Monday morning. “I knew that I wanted to introduce myself to an audience that had not seen a lead of color in this role. I knew that I wanted to be a pioneer in this franchise to diversify the main role, the diversification of the contestants of try out and emptied for the spectacle, and to diversify the audience watching this show.”
What we definitely did — Lindsay season in particular, was more Black and the brown of the contestants than we’ve ever seen and it was a great insight into dating as a Black woman. But three years after his season, nothing has changed. Despite an increase in the diversity of the participants have seen in the last few seasons, the franchise has still had only two Latinx leads: American-Venezuelan-born former soccer player Juan Pablo Galavis and half-Cuban pilot Peter Weber. And the contestants who nab the final rose, if the wires are white or not, have been predominantly white.
Both Lindsay and former favorite of the fans Bachelorette contestant Mike Johnson have raised similar concerns when it comes to the way ABC argues that the lack of diversity by similar selection of people each season. When Johnson was overlooked in favor of Weber to be the season 24, the Bachelor, he congratulated the other man, but he pointed out that the franchise must look beyond Black-and-white when it came to their contacts and to the contestants. He pointed out that the choice of lead usually determines the contestants of the season, saying in an interview with Entertainment Tonight “if Peter likes a thing, not saying what you like and don’t like — but if he likes women with white skin, for example, then there may be a higher percentage of being a Caucasian bachelorette.”
Historically speaking, that is exactly what has been happening. Lindsay spoke about that in his blog post, writing, “Yes, more diverse contestants appear on the show now, but is truly interested and open to dating outside of your race? It is a naïve expectation to believe that leading is truly start a relationship interracial for the first time on national television.”
She added, “The sad reality is that people of color become placeholders as the token person of color to add some flavor to the second half of the season.”
Peter Weber with Natasha Parker, who finished the season 24th in the top five.
Catharine Giudici, who appeared on the 17th season of The Bachelor’s Degree In and married with lead Sean Lowe, echoed the thoughts in a June 7 Instagram post looking back on the time in the show. “When I was originally cast, I was very flattered, but somewhat substantiated by the fact that I would be one of the faces that represented people of color. I knew that one of the reasons why it was probably chosen because he was Filipino,” she shared in the post. “I consider myself to be his fiancé because of what I assumed to Be liked. I thought there was only one box, but I ended up with a lot more.”
Giudici says that when she opened up to the process, she was able to connect with Lowe and his experience, he ended up giving more than she could have imagined, including “getting to represent a mixed-race community.” The couple have already married and are the proud parents of three children.
While it’s great that Giudici found his happy forever, other people can’t do the same if they are never allowed to get its foot in the door. This is the reason that Lindsay does not leave things to chance, she is always the franchise with five action steps to get you on the right path: “1. List of cables that are really interested in dating outside of their race; 2. Stop making excuses for the lack of diversity and take steps to correct the problem; 3. Diversify the producers in the program to make your contestants of color feel more comfortable; and 4. Stop creating problematic lines of the history (sic) for people of color.”
And last, but certainly not least, the ex-girlfriend called for the franchise to “make a statement recognizing its systemic racism”. “The system is not designed for people of color,” he added. “This is not a shocking or innovative statement when the creator of the show, admitted that my season’s lowest ratings of ‘reveals something about our fans and, in addition, concluded that it was “very troubling on a Trumpish type of way”.
“The system is not designed for people of color.”
Lindsay ended his post by saying that only time will tell if the production is going to respond to your comments, but it is obvious that she is not the only one that requires the change. Many fans have been asking for the same changes, especially in the white of the contestants continue to be exposed to be racist, bigoted, or problematic in a plethora of other ways. Lee Garrett was exposed by twitter a string of racist and sexist comments (during the season with the first Black wire!), Garrett Yrigoyen “I like it” comments in the social media that make fun of feminists and transgender people, and went on to be selected for the Bachelorette Becca Kufrin as your winner, and Hannah Brown recently faced backlash after singing the N-word, while learning a dance TikTok.
It is obvious that the franchise needs to invest in some of the best history and the diversification of its cast pools sufficient to counteract their dirty past. Hopefully sooner rather than later, because we are tired of waiting to do it better.
