Bachelor Matt James publicly criticizes the franchise’s racing problem

WARNING: THIS POST INCLUDES SPOILERS ABOUT THE END OF THE SEASON OF MATT JAMES OF “THE BACHELOR.”

In a bold statement on his Instagram account Monday night, Bachelor Matt James stated unequivocally that “The Bachelor franchise is falling short” when it comes to handling the race. After host Chris Harrison defended a contestant who had a troubling history of racist behavior on “Extra,” James said that the current moment of settlement for the franchise “has also prompted me to re-evaluate and process what my experience on The Bachelor represents. . “

James and contestant Rachael Kirkconnell finished together at the end of the season, with the 24-year-old graphic designer receiving the last rose in the final that had not yet aired, as Reality Steve reported on Jan. 21. HuffPost has since found out. that James and Kirkconnell are no longer together, and that their breakup was eventually accelerated by recent revelations that she had formally attended a pre-war fraternity in 2018 and loved photos with Confederate flags in the past.

James’ statement marks the most outspoken he has had publicly about the franchise’s relationship with race since he was cast as the first Black Bachelor in June following nationwide protests against police brutality and racism. (“It is an honor,” James told “Good Morning America” at the time. “I’m just going to lean against myself and how my mom raised me, and hopefully when people invite me to their house on Monday night, they’ll see that I’m not much different from them and that they see those different love stories are beautiful.” )

It’s also a highly unusual step for a franchise lead to publicly criticize the show before their season airs.

But in the aftermath of host Chris Harrison is “stepping aside” temporarily from the franchise after going on one 15-minute rant about the ‘awakened police’ for the first Black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay, on “Extra”, the stakes got higher. As James wrote in his statement, he felt compelled to “ bring to light the troubling information that has come to light since we wrapped up filming. ”

As the season progressed, it became apparent that Matt’s presence on the show exemplified what so many POCs encounter on a daily basis. He and the black women had to take on the extra responsibility of helping ‘The Bachelor’ address diversity issues and were often exploited, ”a source close to James told HuffPost. “The ‘Bachelor’ executives failed to realize that casting a diverse set of participants is not the same as creating fair conditions and opportunities. If they want to change, that means change behind and in front of the camera. “

James has angered some fans for not being more outspoken about the franchise’s racism, especially in light of his clear connection to Kirkconnell on the show. But he’s also been put in a painful position because his journey as the first black bachelor has been overshadowed by controversy over the racist actions of both the woman he chose as the winner and the show’s longtime host.

James cannot bear the burden of the franchise’s ills nor the weight of saving it. “The Bachelor” has had a fraught relationship with racing – and Blackness in particular – long before James’ season, and more diverse casting fails to address the racism built into the show’s structures and the entertainment industry as a whole.

James isn’t even the first black protagonist to be placed in the position of a relationship with a white contestant with a history of racist views and social media behavior. In 2017, Lindsay’s suitors included Lee Garrett, whose tweets compared the NAACP to the KKK and called Black Lives Matter a “ terrorist group ” (among many other racist, Islamophobic, homophobic, and misogynist messages) surfaced as the season aired. Lindsay has publicly stated that she felt the way she was framed as the “angry black woman” during her seasonThis month, she said that after her contractual obligations to “The Bachelor” are fulfilled, she will be done with the franchise.

Other participants of color have reported similar experiences of tokenization, exploitation and racist backlash that some say the show did not prepare or support them. Both Kupah James, a contestant on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of “The Bachelorette,” and Taylor Nolan, a contestant on Nick Viall’s season of “The Bachelor,” who is now a strong advocate of racial equality within the franchise, told HuffPost Over the summer, they felt they had been accused of being “aggressive” villains, and so they were set up to receive massive backlash. LaNease Adams, a black woman, cast the very first season of ‘The Bachelor’, remembered finding her photo on a white supremacist website and having mental health issues afterward. And Jason Mesnick, the first and only Jewish bachelor, told HuffPost last year that the show had downplayed his Jewishness, including discouraging the breaking of a glass at his 2010 televised wedding to his now-wife Molly

In 2012, two black men led a class-action racial discrimination lawsuit against the franchise, which was ultimately dismissed under the First Amendment. However, after the lawsuit, starting with Sean Lowe’s season of “The Bachelor,” the casts became noticeably more diverse. But contestants of color rarely make it to the show’s coveted final four, and even when they do, they often don’t get the same amount of screen time and positive attention as their white peers.

Pieper James, one of the black women in the season of James, tweeted that on Feb. 11 Black women in this franchise should always be hyper aware of our ‘grace’ because no one surrenders it to us. ” She added later that she was “pending the systematic changes the franchise will call for to combat the tokenization of BIPOC individuals

Until the past two weeks, none of The Bachelor’s management team has had the slightest impact on this racist history. (Even while Harrison is reportedly stepping out to embark on an anti-racist journey, he has continued to make money with Cameo and has continued to appear in this season’s already filmed episodes.)

It seems James is only hoping his season can accelerate the kind of institutional change that people of color and viewers have been asking for for years. As he wrote on Instagram, “My biggest prayer is that this is a tipping point that will result in real and institutional change for the better.”