“The last few months have been a few of the hardest of my life, and even though there are numerous episodes remaining season,” that the North Carolina native, 29, published through Instagram on Monday, February 22. “It’s very important that I have the opportunity to tackle the troubling data that’s come to light because we wrapped filming, such as the disappointing pictures of Rachael Kirkconnell along with the meeting between Rachel Lindsay and Chris Harrison.”
James, who had been appointed the first Black freshman in June 2020, subsequently shared that he is”learning about such scenarios in real time,” speaking to Harrison’s February 9 meeting with Lindsay, where he defended Kirkconnell, 24, after photographs surfaced of her in an Old South celebration in 2018. Harrison, 49, also talked over Lindsay, 35, several times throughout the meeting — something that he later apologized for.
“It’s been dreadful and devastating to put it bluntly. Chris’ failure to get and comprehend the psychological labor my friend Rachel Lindsay was carrying on by patiently and respectfully describing the racist history of the Antebellum South, a painful history which each American ought to know intimately, was troubling and painful to observe,” James continued in his announcement. “As Black folks and allies instantly knew and recognized, it was a crystal clear reflection of a far bigger problem the Bachelor franchise has dropped short on fixing satisfactorily for ages.”
The ABC Food Tours creator noted that”significant conversations” and”significant questions” have been requested and fresh kinds of”solidarity” in Bachelor Nation are established.
“It’s also pushed me to reevaluate and procedure what my expertise The Bachelor signifies , not only for mepersonally, but for most of the contestants of colour, particularly the Dark contestants of the year and seasons ago, also for you, the viewers at home,” he explained. “I shall proceed to process this adventure, and you’ll hear more from me at the end. My best prayer is that this really is a disease point that leads to actual and systemic change to the greater .”
I had been wrong,” he wrote in an announcement on February 13. Kirkconnell additionally insisted , admitting through Instagram,”that I had been dumb, but my ignorance proved to be racist.”
Scroll through the gallery below to determine just how Bachelor Nation is displaying their service to James.
