In speaking with People Magazine, Rachel Lindsay is aware of the fact that she is making history as the first African-American Bachelorette.
“I really do [feel it], because I know all eyes are on me,” Lindsay told People. “They’re on me because I’m something new and different that they haven’t seen in this franchise before. With that, everyone’s going to have an opinion.”
She knows that with that attention, there is going to be just as much negative attention as anything else, and she is prepared for it.
“There’s going to be a lot of judgment, and I can’t please everyone,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘Do I really want to do that? Do I want to take on that challenge?’ — and I’m not one to run away from a challenge, so why not challenge myself and have the opportunity to get exactly what it is that I want for myself?”
“Just being the first, setting a standard — all eyes are on you. You know they’re watching you,” she added. “Not just as a woman, not just as a black woman, but as a professional woman, as an older woman. I’m the oldest Bachelorette that there’s been. All eyes are on me for a lot of different reasons. That’s a lot to take in.”