25 women from Matt’s ‘The Bachelor’ ‘denounce any defense of racism’ after Chris Harrison comments

In a big and pretty unprecedented move for the Bachelor franchise, 25 contestants of colour from the current season of The Bachelor, which is led by first Black lead Matt James, have united together to write a letter condemning racism and any defence of it. The action was prompted after fellow contestant Rachael Kirkconnell's past racist behaviour came to light and Bachelor Nation host Chris Harrison defended it in an interview.

The behaviour was exposed after not-so-old social media posts of Kirkconnell's, taken in 2018, resurfaced. In them, she's dressed in an insensitive Native American costume, and is partying at a plantation-themed party, which is apparently a thing that happens. It was also learned that she has a history of liking controversial social media posts, including those of people posing with a confederate flag.

“We are the women of Bachelor Season 25,” the letter reads. “Twenty-five women who identify as BIPOC were cast on this historic season that was meant to represent change. We are deeply disappointed and want to make it clear that we denounce any defence of racism. Any defence of racist behaviour denies the lived and continued experiences of BIPOC individuals. These experiences are not to be exploited or tokenized.”

They also voiced their support for Rachel Lindsay, the franchise's first Black Bachelorette, whose season aired in 2017.

In a frustrating and lengthy Extra interview that aired earlier this week, Lindsay spoke with Bachelor host Chris Harrison to discuss the Kirkconnell controversy. Despite her continued efforts to explain to him just why Kirkconnell's racist behaviour was problematic and not something to swipe under the rug as the franchise loves to do, Harrison kept downplaying the situation and asking viewers to give her a break.

When Lindsay noted that the photo is "not a good look," Harrison laughably responded, “Well, Rachel, is it a good look in 2018? Or is it not a good look in 2021? Because there’s a big difference.”

“It’s not a good look ever,” Lindsay said. “Because she’s celebrating the Old South. If I went to that party, what would I represent at that party?”

Somehow finding the confidence to then double down, Harrison said, “You’re 100 per cent right in 2021. That was not the case in 2018. And again, I’m not defending Rachael. I just know that, I don’t know, 50-million people did that in 2018. That was a type of party that a lot of people went to. And again, I’m not defending it. I didn’t go to it.”

After receiving well-deserved blowback from fans, Harrison took it all back on Thursday: “I will always own a mistake when I make one, so I am here to extend a sincere apology. I have this incredible platform to speak about love, and yesterday I took a stance on topics about which I should have been better informed.”

“While I do not speak for Rachael Kirkconnell, my intentions were simply to ask for grace in offering her an opportunity to speak on her own behalf,” Harrison continued. “What I now realize I have done is cause harm by wrongly speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism, and for that I am so deeply sorry. I also apologize to my friend Rachel Lindsay for not listening to her better on a topic she has a first-hand understanding of, and humbly thank the members of Bachelor Nation who have reached out to me to hold me accountable. I promise to do better.”

In their open letter, the women of the current season wrote, using Harrison's own word, “Rachel Lindsay continues to advocate with ‘grace’ for individuals who identify as BIPOC within this franchise. Just because she is speaking the loudest, doesn’t mean she is alone. We stand with her, we hear her, and we advocate for change alongside her.”

Kirkconnell also issued an apology on Thursday on Instagram, saying that "I was wrong."

She writes, “At one point, I didn’t recognize how offensive and racist my actions were, but that doesn’t excuse them. My age or when it happened does not excuse anything. They are not acceptable or okay in any sense. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist.”

“I am sorry to the communities and individuals that my actions harmed and offended. I am ashamed about my lack of education, but it’s no one’s responsibility to educate me. I am learning and will continue to learn how to be antiracist, because it’s important to speak up in the moment and not after you’re called out. If you are a person who doesn’t understand the offence in question, I urge you to learn from my mistakes and encourage you to use them as a teachable moment.”

The Bachelor franchise, of course, has a long reputation of being messy when it comes to race, having only chosen Black leads 15 and 20 years after the series debuted, and only after a repeated outcry from audiences and the recent Black Lives Matter movement, respectively.

In many seasons, contestants of colour have also often been reduced to racial stereotypes, nevermind that they rarely make it far in the competition series.

It's something Bachelor Season 10's Lindsay Smith discussed for Vox, writing, “producers were intentionally creating an environment where I would feel uncomfortable due to my race. ... I remember watching myself within the contours of a highly edited storyline — reduced to the stereotype of a hysterical woman. It was a jarring and shameful experience.”

In Lindsay's season, this was especially glaring, when the central conflicts became based around contestant Lee Garrett's past racist behaviour, too, leading many to wonder how such things manage to bypass producers' screening efforts so often and if perhaps they might have been sought specifically to create race-based tensions.

ABC and the people behind The Bachelor have, predictably, yet to comment. 

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