Social Media Has Mixed Feelings About The First African American ‘Bachelor’
As reported earlier today, ABC announced their new lead for The Bachelor would be Matt James. James, who will be the franchise’s first African American Bachelor, appeared on the show as one of Clare Crawley’s Bachelorette contestants in season 16.
In previous years, the franchise has gotten tons of heat for its lack of diversity. There is even a Change.org petition that has been circulating, campaigning for “Anti-Racism in the Bachelor Franchise.” It currently has over 85,000 signatures.
So now that the next Bachelor is African American, there are a lot of opinions online. Some think ABC has finally done the right thing; some think the network is just trying to save face in light of the current Black Lives Matter movement and the recent protests over George Floyd’s death.
the bachelor producers scrambling to cast a black lead so that people don’t cancel their racist show pic.twitter.com/w7MSmjp86L
— k (@agetawaykar) June 12, 2020
woke up to see that we bullied ABC into giving us a black bachelor :-) and its tyler cameron’s bestie pic.twitter.com/8q3oK8Xnin
— lily (@lilyanx3) June 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/mikeapedia101/status/1271444216514842624
https://twitter.com/Krazykarenn/status/1271448972037677057
https://twitter.com/elisefoley/status/1271427219831820288
Congratulations, @MattJames919 on becoming the first Black bachelor! We're excited to watch your season of @BachelorABC and see diverse relationships on TV. We're encouraged knowing #BachelorNation voices were heard in asking for a #BIPOCBachelor. We must keep pushing for change. pic.twitter.com/jdwoQodO5v
— Bachelor Diversity Campaign (@bachdiversity) June 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/BrettSVergara/status/1271440426587893760
https://twitter.com/bachelorbitch_/status/1271458811358752770
https://twitter.com/mannilovena/status/1271430454407806983
Matt James is the first Black Bachelor #BachelorNation #TheBachelor
— . (@TheBBWH) June 12, 2020
🥱 🛏 y’all wake me up when police reform happens #BLM pic.twitter.com/ZCp4pjWuXJ
https://twitter.com/realityrambles/status/1271420747668480000
https://twitter.com/elanarubin/status/1271422051690086401
I should add, choosing a black bachelor is not enough to make up for the show’s long history of racism, ableism, homophobia and sizeism. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not a full transformation #BachelorNation
— Sarah Sahagian (@sarahsahagian) June 12, 2020
This stunt of announcing the first black Bachelor before even airing the Bachelorette is strange and proves that it is just that..a stunt. Y’all never do that. Why did it take 25 seasons to finally have a black bachelor on the show? #bachelor #BachelorNation
— An Unapologetically Black Woman (@jalisarenee3) June 12, 2020
