Its 2020 and we are still fighting to have our “first black” moments. Rachel Lindsay, the first-ever Black lead in The Bachelorette spinoff of The Bachelor, proclaims that she will be cutting ties with the franchise if they do not assess their diversity issues ASAP.
Lindsay currently remains the only Black lead out of 24 leads of The Bachelor and 15 leads of The Bachelorette. Sad.
In an interview with AfterBuzz TV, Lindsay said, “In 40 seasons [‘The Bachelor’] had one Black lead. We are on 45 presidents. And in 45 presidents there’s been one Black president. You are almost on par to say you’re more likely to become the President of the United States than you are a Black lead in this franchise. That’s insane. That’s ridiculous.”
Lindsay had more to say. “It’s been asked of me, will I continue in this franchise if it continues in this way?” She answered, “I can’t. I have to see some type of change. It’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing. At this point, it’s embarrassing to be affiliated with it.”
The Bachelor isn’t the only entity that has finally gotten around to having their first black anything within the last few years. Last year, the Academy Awards gave its Best Costume Design award to a Black woman, Ruth E. Carter, for the first time ever for Black Panther, as well as awarded Hannah Beachler for Best Production Design in the same movie.
Also, presidential candidate Joe Biden revealed that he wanted to appoint the first Black woman in history to the Supreme Court, as just weeks ago New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy nominated Fabiana Pierre-Louis as the first Black woman to possibly sit on NJ’s Supreme Court–-and she’s from Irvington, NJ.
Read More: Biden commits to appointing first Black woman to the Supreme Court
Having a “first Black” anything is way overdue in all areas.
Lindsay mentioned in her interview that she hopes that Bachelor producers casts Mike Johnson as their next star, who is also Black.
“I would be thrilled if he was The Bachelor,” she said. “I think a lot of people would, there was such a huge movement to make him the Bachelor last season. I gave a whole spiel when I found out he wasn’t, if it’s him everybody knows where I stand.”
Johnson was a huge interest for fans during the Hannah Brown season of The Bachelorette. Even with numerous campaigns created by fans to have Johnson selected, he was not considered for the 24th season of The Bachelor, instead Peter Weber (a white man) was chosen.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/51fhvJHAl0eAcgkg4wBbYf