Rachel Lindsay, first Black Bachelorette, recalls host calling her ‘angry’
"I've been labeled an 'angry Black female' in Bachelor Nation. It still carries and follows me around to this day," Lindsay said
Rachel Lindsay, attorney and media personality, opened up about a frustrating moment during an appearance on The View. Lindsay recalled the moment ABC’s The Bachelorette‘s host Chris Harrison labeled her as “angry.”
During her Friday appearance on the talk show, the former Bachelorette spoke on the situation after recalling when the Real Housewives of New York’s Eboni K. Williams, the first Black cast member, was labeled “an angry Black woman” by Luann de Lesseps during an argument.
Lindsay said when she stood up for herself against a runner up’s condescending comments against her, Harrison called her “angry.”
“In my season finale of The Bachelorette when I was sitting on stage with my runner up, my runner up told me that I was going to live a mediocre life if I didn’t choose him and my response to him was, ‘Actually I’m living my best life,'” Lindsay said of her tense conversation with Peter Kraus, according to E!
“When I came back from commercial break, the host [Chris Harrison] said to me, ‘Rachel, you seem angry.’ I looked and I said, ‘That’s a strong word.’ And he said, ‘Well, you seem upset.’ I hadn’t raised my voice, I hadn’t yelled, I hadn’t said any type of curse word.”
When she asked the contestant why he felt attacked regarding her retort to his comments, he couldn’t offer an answer.
“From that moment on, four years ago, I’ve been labeled an ‘angry Black female’ in Bachelor Nation. It still carries and follows me around to this day,” said Lindsay.
“So, I can relate to Eboni and I’m proud that she was standing up for herself at that moment. I think it’s so important that we talk about these things. If in 2020 we were supposed to be having these types of conversations, we need to address microaggressions that are placed on Black women to address these racial stereotypes.”
The “Angry Black Woman” stereotype has long been a disparaging comment against Black women in an attempt to characterize them as aggressive, hostile, or ill-tempered by nature, even if they are responding to or addressing issues, or combating behaviors. The comment often encourages Black women to be non-threatening or passive.
Ferris State University addressed its origins as “The Sapphire Caricature,” which was popularized in film and television. It is characterized by portraying Black women as “rude, loud, malicious, stubborn, and overbearing.”
It also acknowledged the depictions over time as “shrill nagger with irrational states of anger and indignation and is often mean-spirited and abusive” and the desire to “dominate” and her “hyper-sensitivity to injustices maker her a perpetual complainer.”
CNN correspondent Ana Navarro-Cardenas said on Twitter, “Women of Color absolutely know there are ‘Angry Black Woman,’ and ‘Crazy Latina’ stereotypes which we combat. We can’t get away with acting unprofessionally without facing consequences. It is what it is.”
Television writer and comedian Rae Sanni tweeted about the episode regarding Real Housewives of Beverly Hills castmate and actress Garcelle Beauvais’s attempts to avoid the stereotype. “It’s kinda wild that Garcelle explained to Rinna that she moderates her behavior to avoid the Angry Black Woman stereotype, and then Luann showed exactly why with Eboni the following week. #RHONY #RHOBH.”
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