The Bachelorette: Rachel Lindsay and Race
You cannot deny the effects of color on a predominately white show. All of the past 21 season of bachelor and 12 seasons of the bachelorette have had to wait for Rachel to introduce a POC.
Rachel's journey in the bachelorette is very different than anyone else's. No one else has had to worry about the repercussions her choices would make to the stereotypes of races in America. That is one heavy responsibility to take and Rachel has done it with grace from the beginning.
This season has had the most number of colored contestant on the show. And when it comes to this season, it seems that instead of setting your fandom craze on just the contestant, America is setting their bets on the race of the candidate too.
The pressure held on Rachel to represent the most poised and polished black person is enough pressure. She is held up to higher standards of beauty and mannerism. Yes she is black. But she needs to be far from it in the eyes of America for her to be the best bachelorette. She isn't allowed to let loose with her natural hair or be uneducated. She needs to be sweet and strong but not too strong, so she doesn't seem like an "angry black person". She needs to be beautiful, but can't have her natural hair show through, she has to make sure its sleek and straight and not "afro-y". She needs to make sure she is well-educated and not a user of slang so she is not associated with "the hood". She needs to be the best bachelorette ever first and then be the black bachelorette.
Not only does she have to be America's sweetheart. She has to make sure that she represents black culture is the best light possible. That's the role of a minority for you. She also needs to win over the white culture that has followed the bachelorette/bachelor nation and prove to them that she has not "tainted" or "spoiled" the show.
Let's not even begin to discuss the pressures of finding her true love in a couple of weeks. Not only does she need to find her love, she needs to make sure that the race and color of her love does not provoke any race in the wrong way. If she only gravitates towards white males, what does that say about her views of colored men? What does that say about white men in society? Rachel has told us that she has dominantly dated black men before. I don't think she is looking at race in her journey as she shouldn't.
She is what the people of color want to see in the end. POC do not want to be bounded by skin color. We want to be able to communicate and socialize with other POC and white people and be judge beyond our color. Rachel has done just that.
Rachel picks her roses out with care. She does not want to pick just anyone based on their looks. She realizes that a marriage with someone who is able to carry the same weight as her because of her color would have more in common. She knows that. She also knows that most of the colored men on that show were not ready for marriage. She was not able to connect to them because of personalities.
Rachel has seen interests in colored and white men equally. She has seen past the color of these men and seen their intentions. One black man, DeMario, has left because he was currently in another relationship with another woman. Another black man, Kenny, left because he was not ready for more because of family. It is not because of color that there are less colored men left. It has to do with the person itself.
In these final few rounds, there are more and more white men progressing, but this has to do with the sample of men she was given, not about race. If she cannot imagine a life with a certain person, she has the right to discard them from the show just as much as any other bachelorette. #TeamRachel
Rachel's journey in the bachelorette is very different than anyone else's. No one else has had to worry about the repercussions her choices would make to the stereotypes of races in America. That is one heavy responsibility to take and Rachel has done it with grace from the beginning.
This season has had the most number of colored contestant on the show. And when it comes to this season, it seems that instead of setting your fandom craze on just the contestant, America is setting their bets on the race of the candidate too.
The pressure held on Rachel to represent the most poised and polished black person is enough pressure. She is held up to higher standards of beauty and mannerism. Yes she is black. But she needs to be far from it in the eyes of America for her to be the best bachelorette. She isn't allowed to let loose with her natural hair or be uneducated. She needs to be sweet and strong but not too strong, so she doesn't seem like an "angry black person". She needs to be beautiful, but can't have her natural hair show through, she has to make sure its sleek and straight and not "afro-y". She needs to make sure she is well-educated and not a user of slang so she is not associated with "the hood". She needs to be the best bachelorette ever first and then be the black bachelorette.
Not only does she have to be America's sweetheart. She has to make sure that she represents black culture is the best light possible. That's the role of a minority for you. She also needs to win over the white culture that has followed the bachelorette/bachelor nation and prove to them that she has not "tainted" or "spoiled" the show.
Let's not even begin to discuss the pressures of finding her true love in a couple of weeks. Not only does she need to find her love, she needs to make sure that the race and color of her love does not provoke any race in the wrong way. If she only gravitates towards white males, what does that say about her views of colored men? What does that say about white men in society? Rachel has told us that she has dominantly dated black men before. I don't think she is looking at race in her journey as she shouldn't.
She is what the people of color want to see in the end. POC do not want to be bounded by skin color. We want to be able to communicate and socialize with other POC and white people and be judge beyond our color. Rachel has done just that.
Rachel picks her roses out with care. She does not want to pick just anyone based on their looks. She realizes that a marriage with someone who is able to carry the same weight as her because of her color would have more in common. She knows that. She also knows that most of the colored men on that show were not ready for marriage. She was not able to connect to them because of personalities.
Rachel has seen interests in colored and white men equally. She has seen past the color of these men and seen their intentions. One black man, DeMario, has left because he was currently in another relationship with another woman. Another black man, Kenny, left because he was not ready for more because of family. It is not because of color that there are less colored men left. It has to do with the person itself.
In these final few rounds, there are more and more white men progressing, but this has to do with the sample of men she was given, not about race. If she cannot imagine a life with a certain person, she has the right to discard them from the show just as much as any other bachelorette. #TeamRachel
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