Former “Bachelorette” Rachel Lindsay, the first black American to lead a season of the franchise, opened up Thursday about her struggles with overcoming her personal opposition to interracial dating.
Speaking on the YouTube series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” on Thursday, Lindsay said she used to be “so against” dating men outside her race.
“I’ve always been told that I wasn’t black enough and I’m not even [biracial],” Lindsay said, as highlighted by Us Weekly. “I’m a black woman and I’ve always been told that I wasn’t black enough because of the way that I grew up, the experiences that I had. So I, you know, to be 100 percent honest it was something that I fought before I came on to ‘The Bachelor.'”
“Up until I was 30 I really didn’t date seriously outside of my race because I felt like society – not my parents, not my friends – society was telling me I had to pick a black man,” she added.
When it came to choosing her man to marry, Lindsay said she did not want to meet people’s expectations by falling for a man simply because he looked like her.
“I feel like they expect me to pick someone who looks just like me, but that’s not fair. They should just want me to fall in love with whoever it is that I vibe with,” she said.
Lindsay eventually chose Bryan Abasolo, a man of Colombian descent. They were married in August 2019.
As the “Black Lives Matter” protests erupted nationwide in early June, Lindsay called on the show to promote more diversity.
“In 40 seasons, [‘The Bachelor’] had one black lead,” Lindsay said. “You are almost on par to say you’re more likely to become the president of the United States than you are a black lead in this franchise. That’s insane. That’s ridiculous.”
If the franchise does not change course, Lindsay said that she is prepared to step away from it entirely. Just recently, she appeared as a judge on the “Bachelor” spin-off show “Listen to Your Heart.”
“It’s been asked of me: ‘Will I continue in this franchise if it continues in this way?’” Lindsay said. “I can’t. I have to see some type of change. It’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing. At this point, it’s embarrassing to be affiliated with it.”
Lindsay also said in an Instagram post that black women are not appreciated enough in this country.
“We are BLACK WOMEN…we build…we don’t tear down other black women…for many years we have felt the pain of not being seen for our undeniably beautiful skin, instead, we are looked down upon,” she said. “But right now in this moment, we will acknowledge each other! We will uplift each other today! We can see how they portray the black women on the media and what affect that has had on our beautiful black girls. The fighting, the screaming, and the judging has run its course. We are beautifully the same. Upload 1 picture/video of just you and tag as many beautiful black queens as you would like. Please let’s keep this challenge going!”
This article and its headline have been revised for clarity.