For Reality TV junkies like myself, the recent controversy surrounding this season of The Bachelor is disheartening. The Bachelor franchise is a series that I have selflessly been a fan of for what seems like forever. Even despite the lack of diversity it offers, it has grown to be one of ABC’s most successful shows. In response to the emergence of Black Lives Matter movements, over 160,000 fans encouraged ABC to finally cast a black lead. Matt James being announced as the next bachelor undoubtedly brought excitement to the fanbase, however I was somewhat skeptical about this season’s emphasis on “The First Black Bachelor.” After being a few episodes in… let’s just say that I don’t think this is what Bachelor Nation envisioned when pleading for more diversity.
The controversy surrounding season 25 began on the very first episode. In a sit down with host Chris Harrison, Matt James talked about the challenges he would face being the First Black Bachelor. He specifically mentioned how, as a mixed race man, fans would be watching closely to see what race he would end up with. What became controversial then was that the conversation was so fixated on race in the first place. No other lead in the history of Bachelor franchise has been put through these pressures, except for Rachel Lindsay who was the First Black Bachelorette. His interview could have been about what he was looking forward to, but instead race was the only thing the producers were concerned with.
More controversy arose when fans began to speculate that the conversation insinuated that he would end up with a white woman. This caused a lot of black fans to not want to “waste their time” watching a season where another white woman is proposed to in the end. As a black woman, I understand why other black fans would be rooting for a black love story, however James made it very clear that he did not want to make any group of people mad.
The season really got put under the spotlight when one of the contestants, Rachael Kirkconnell, got exposed in a viral TikTok about alleged comments she had made in the past. The video creator claimed that Kirkconnell had made fun of her in high school for liking black men. Various acquaintances then commented under the post about similar experiences they had had with her. Since then, fans began to dig into Kirkconnell’s past in an effort to discover whether or not she is racist. What fans uncovered next were photos that Kirkconnell liked that depicted Confederate Flags and “Make America Great Again” hats, her parents political party affiliation, the history of racism in the area she grew up in, Qanon conspiracy theory posts, and a photo of her in 2018 at a plantation-themed fraternity party.
All of this says plenty about her character, considering she chose to be cast on a season with a black lead. Although she apologized and admitted that she should be held accountable for her actions, not everyone thinks it was genuine. The photos of her at that Old South party were from only two years ago. Any educated twenty-two year old is aware of the history and disrespect surrounding plantations. If she had not been on national television, would she be sorry? I’m not convinced.
To make matters worse, both Matt James and Chris Harrison have been defending Kirkconnell’s actions. While James merely implied that we don’t have the full story yet, Harrison used the term “woke police” and implied that going to plantation themed parties is what “everyone in the South does” when discussing the issue on Rachel Lindsay’s podcast. He claimed that we, as viewers, should be more compassionate towards Kirkconnell amidst these allegations. This didn’t sit right with Lindsay, nor did it sit right with me. As a white man, Harrison had no right to tell Lindsay or any of the black viewers how to react to the situation.
Amongst all of the opinions about this scandal, the only voices that matter are the ones that have actually been affected by instances of racial prejudice. This does not include Chris Harrison, and white people in general need to sit out of this conversation except to show their support for POC. Harrison screwed up so badly that he was forced to “take a break” from a show that he has been hosting for nearly two decades. The real question, though, is why would they work so hard to defend a random contestant? Fans believe that Kirkconnell must have been awarded the final rose, but we won’t know until the finale airs later this March.