In the eight seasons of ABC’s The Bachelorette, the bachelorettes have always been beautiful. They have always been intelligent. They have always been warm and friendly. They have also always been white. But that is about to change if Misee Harris has her way. The 28-year-old African-American dentist is currently engaging in a social media campaign to be the first African-American bachelorette. Her potential candidacy prompts the question of whether America is ready to enthusiastically watch eligible men of all races compete for a black woman’s heart. I believe that — despite the fact that black women’s beauty and worth is often marginalized by the mainstream media — America is indeed ready. Hopefully ABC and the producers of The Bachelorette will recognize that.
Because, if there were ever a desirable bachelorette, it is Misee Harris, with her mix of beauty, brains and benevolence. The five-foot-6, 125-pound, brown-skinned beauty has dreamed of being a dentist since her early teens and she made that dream a reality by graduating from the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. She currently works as a pediatric dentist in her native state of Tennessee. Additionally, Misee Harris is filled with a desire to give back to under-served communities. She does just that by engaging in medical mission trips to the Appalachian mountains to provide children with dental care, mentoring young women in her community and working with autism-related charities.
As a romantic partner, Harris says that she is a loyal confidant who loves sports and is always willing to try new things.
Harris is also a die-hard fan of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. When she heard of a casting call in Columbus, Ohio in June of last year for The Bachelor, she thought to herself, “I have nothing to lose, why not?” After attending the casting call and various call-backs, she was eventually invited to be one of the competing women on that show. But after much thought, Harris decided not to be the “token black girl” on The Bachelor, and to instead begin her own campaign to be the bachelorette.
“I realized that being the bachelorette would give me a better opportunity to find love and a stronger platform for all of my creative dreams and charity work,” Harris told me in a phone interview. “It also would allow me to inspire other black women and girls to dream big and know their worth.”
Harris immediately started a public figure Facebook fan page, and in the past few months has gained over 16,000 likes. She now receives countless supportive messages from fans of all genders, races, and ages.
When asked why she would like to be the next bachelorette, Harris responded that after spending the last ten years of her life wholly focused on academic and career pursuits, she is ready to dedicate time to her social and romantic ambitions. “I believe that we black women should have it all,” Harris said. “We can be successful and also meet a great guy. I want a man who is willing to be my life partner. A best friend that I can wake up and watch TV and eat cereal with. A guy who is just as ambitious as I am and his dreams will become my dreams just as my dreams become his. Most of all, a man who will be a good father figure to our future kids.”
But will Harris get an opportunity to search for that man on The Bachelorette? In its prior eight seasons, all of the bachelorettes were former contestants on The Bachelor. The show’s producers chose former contestants that did not win, but who were loved by fans of the show. That is one impediment. The producers of the show are well aware of her campaign, but it is unknown whether they are interested in selecting her.
Another hurdle would be the racial precedent. The producers have never cast a black person as the central bachelor or bachelorette, and this decision has not gone unnoticed. In April 2012 two black men, Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson, filed a racial discrimination suit against the show and its producers, stating that they and other people of color who have auditioned were not given an equal opportunity during the casting process. The show producers vehemently defended themselves and released a statement.
“This complaint is baseless and without merit,” the statement read. “In fact, we have had various participants of color throughout the series’ history, and the producers have been consistently — and publicly — vocal about seeking diverse candidates for both programs. As always, we continue to seek out participants of color for both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.”
A U.S. District Judge dismissed the lawsuit stating that casting decisions were protected by the First Amendment.
My guess is that right now Harris’ fate lies with the court of public opinion. Can she gain enough support from Americans of all races? Are Americans ready to see twenty-five to thirty handsome, successful men of all races vie for a black woman’s heart in a manner that is serious and romantic, rather than comical?
Such a show would inherently promote the idea that black women are desirable. It disrupts the cultural narratives in media — that some see as propaganda — promoting the expectation that African-American women should be perpetually single. It de-emphasizes the standard of a white, fair-haired woman as the epitome of female beauty and worthiness, a standard which fuels billions of dollars in sales of hair dye, hair extensions, and skin-bleaching creams globally. This beauty ideal also contributes to the absence of black women from the ranks of the highest paid models and actresses, where our form of beauty tends to be an occasional exotic trend rather than embraced as an everyday normality.
I believe that the American people are indeed ready for a black bachelorette, because nearly 10 percent of married black women in the United States are married interracially, for starters. Thus, the sight of a non-black man with a black woman is becoming less and less of an oddity. Americans have also shown a keen interest in high profile relationships involving black women, such as first lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama. Beyonce and Jay Z, Naomi Campbell and Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith and Mellody Hobson and George Lucas make up more celebrity couples featuring black women the public can’t get enough of.
Finally, a network television show about a high-powered black female power broker having an affair with the white male leader of the free world (aka, Scandal) garners eight million viewers per episode. This reveals that placing a beautiful, intelligent and romantically attractive black woman in a leading role can produce top ratings.
Let’s just hope that ABC and the producers of The Bachelorette realize that.
Even if Ms. Harris is not selected, after eight years, the question of why a woman of color has never been a bachelorette deserves an answer. Even if the producers of the show are legally protected by the First Amendment, the court of public opinion, which is shifting in demographics and taste, will still require satisfaction due to today’s multicultural ideals.
(Editor’s note: A spokesman for ABC declined to comment on this story after being approached by theGrio.)
Ama Yawson is a co-founder of Loveessence.com, a dating site for black women who are interested in interracial relationships, and those interested in dating them. Ms. Yawson has earned a BA from Harvard University, an MBA from the Wharton School and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.