ABC Has Its 1st Black Bachelorette … Yay?

For years, many people have wondered when there would be a black bachelor or bachelorette on ABCโ€™s popular dating show. Well, probably not many people. But just in case youโ€™re one of those who were wondering, meet 31-year-old attorney Rachel Lindsay, the first black woman to be cast as the next bachelorette. Suggested Reading Flint’s…

For years, many people have wondered when there would be a black bachelor or bachelorette on ABCโ€™s popular dating show. Well, probably not many people. But just in case youโ€™re one of those who were wondering, meet 31-year-old attorney Rachel Lindsay, the first black woman to be cast as the next bachelorette.

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Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

โ€œIโ€™m happy to represent myself as a black woman in front of America, and Iโ€™m happy for America to rally behind me and see what itโ€™s like for me to be on this journey to find love,โ€ Lindsay, 31, told People magazine. โ€œHonestly, itโ€™s not going to be that different from any other season of Theย Bachelorette.โ€

So you donโ€™t say? Iโ€™ll just wait for some of the cringeworthy Guess Whoโ€™s Coming to Dinner moments, because we all know not everyone is down with interracial dating.

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โ€œIโ€™m obviously nervous and excited to take on this opportunity, but I donโ€™t feel added pressure being the first black bachelorette, because to me, Iโ€™m just a black woman trying to find love. Yes, Iโ€™m doing [it] on this huge stage, but again, my journey of love isnโ€™t any different just because my skin color is.โ€

I wonder if the casting will take on a different โ€œcolor,โ€ too. In previous years, there werenโ€™t too many black men or women vying for the attention of a bachelor or bachelorette.

This isnโ€™t Lindsayโ€™s first time at the rodeo. She received a first-impression rose from The Bachelorโ€™s Nick Viall during the current 21st season.

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Last year, ABC Entertainment chief Channing Dungey, the first African American to head programming at a major broadcast network, said she was striving for the network to have a bigger commitment when it came to diversity, especially on the dating show.

โ€œI would very much like to see some changes there. And I think one of the biggest changes that we need to do is โ€ฆ increase the pool of diverse candidates in the beginning, because part of what ends up happening as we go along is there just arenโ€™t as many candidates to ultimately end up in the role of the next bachelor or bachelorette,โ€ Dungey said.

โ€œThe show has been very much in a cycle where the first runner-up in one cycle becomes the person who leads the next cycle, and itโ€™s worked very well for us because the audience feels really engaged in helping to choose that candidate, so I think what we would like to try to do is just widen the pool of choices,โ€ she continued.

Iโ€™m just going to sit back and wait for someone to come up with a Tinder version of a dating show; after 21 seasons, the dating series world needs โ€œsomething new.โ€ Lindsayโ€™s season premieres May 22.

Straight From The Root

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