Courtney Silva – Special to the Southern News –
She’s hoping they’re all color blind—she’s pretty, she’s smart, she’s appearing to have all the qualities of a successful participant, except for one, she’s African
Misee Harris wants to be the first black “Bachlorette.”
American.
“The television network of ABC is looking for a lawsuit,” said Jen Glazier. “I have never seen a black bachelorette, which is odd as I’m sure that demographic, watches the show as well.”
Glazier, senior music major at SCSU, said that if Missee Harris has her way, she will be the one doling out the roses to potential suitors on this season of The Bachelorette.
In the eight seasons of The Bachelorette, there has never been an African American star and hardly more than a handful of African American contestants. Harris, 28, a pediatric dentist of Kentucky, hopes to change that and has launched a campaign to make her dream of being the next Bachelorette a reality, said the NY Daily News.
Harris said in her interview with NBC News The Grio Magazine that her prospective candidature encourages the public to ask the question of, “whether America is ready to enthusiastically watch eligible men of all races compete for a black woman’s heart.”
Victoria Lea, junior education major at SCSU, said it’s well past time for The Bachelorette to shake things up. Whether you’re a white contestant or whether you’re a black contestant, you can be a successful contestant on the show.
It is clearly not right that after 10 years of successive seasons, there hasn’t been a black bachelorette,” Lea said. “While I do think every producer is being racist, I also just think that mistakes are being made.”
There’s one thing missing from her resume, she’s never been a contestant on The Bachelor. Over the past eight seasons of the show, The Bachelorette tradition has been to choose one of The Bachelor’s casts-offs and give her control of the roses and the mission of finding love, said Grio.
These were some of the past women on ABC’s “The Bachlorette.”
Julie Deacon, junior marketing major, said it’s a tradition that is slowly turning into where people of color aren’t being cast as contestants and thus can never get their chance at finding love.
“I think it’s unfair for the network to decide that a black woman doesn’t get her shot at finding true love just because she isn’t white,” Deacon said. “We are all looking for love and if she is willing to put herself out there on the show, the network should respect that. Otherwise, I think the show should question their racial beliefs.”
In an interview with NBC News The Grio Magazine, Harris said that she realized that being the bachelorette would give her a better opportunity to find love and a stronger platform for all of her creative dreams and charity work. It also would allow her to inspire other black women and girls to dream big and know their worth.
However, Glazier said that if Harris is not selected for this season, the show has an option now for the future to finally cast a woman of color as The Bachelorette.
“We live in a society where we are so integrated in race when it comes to the media,” said Glazier. “Why shouldn’t the popular reality TV show have an African American contestant play as The Bachelorette?”
