Greer Blitzer, a contestant on the ultimate season of “The Bachelor,” apologized for a second time for defending a former classmate who was wearing a racist blackface costume at a Halloween occasion. This time the apology was in entrance of a stay studio viewers.
In October, whereas filming the twenty seventh season of the fact courting present ABC, which already had a checkered historical past of racism, screenshots of deleted tweets had surfaced on Reddit exhibiting Blitzer coming to the rescue of her good friend. Her boyfriend was then a sophomore at Lamar Excessive Faculty in Houston, the place Blitzer, who was 18, had attended. Within the tweets, she dismissed the blackface costume as “foolish however not racist” and that “it wasn’t an intentional racist act”.
Shortly after the primary episode of the season aired in January, Greer first apologized in her Instagram story, writing, “In my previous I’ve made some uneducated, ignorant and albeit flawed feedback on my social media accounts. Particularly, in 2016, I used deceptive arguments on Twitter to defend a school scholar who dressed up in blackface as Tupac for Halloween.”
“I’m deeply sorry to these I’ve damage, particularly these inside the black neighborhood, not as a result of these screenshots have resurfaced, however as a result of I as soon as shared these dangerous opinions,” the 24-year-old continued, including that her younger age was no excuse for her actions.
Initially from the Houston space, Greer gave a powerful first impression to “The Bachelor” star Zach Shallcross. Nevertheless, Shallcross finally determined to not give Greer a rose for a date in his hometown, which despatched Greer residence.
She confronted the difficulty once more on Tuesday’s episode, wherein the eradicated contestants sat with the present’s host, Jesse Palmer, for temporary interviews in entrance of a stay viewers.
Acknowledging the present’s historical past of racist incidents, Palmer admitted that “as a franchise, we have completed a very dangerous job of tackling critical matters head-on previously.”
“I wished to sort out this. I do not wish to sweep it underneath the rug,” Blitzer started. “What I did not point out in my apology was that what occurred was racist. It isn’t in regards to the intent, it is in regards to the affect. And this acquaintance of mine who I knew carried out blackface was racist, me defending it was racist, my ignorance was racist.” , and I am simply so embarrassed. I am simply actually sorry for hurting the black neighborhood.
She mentioned she was educating herself in regards to the historical past of blackface. Beforehand, Blitzer had met with Kira Banks, a psychology professor at St. Louis College and an knowledgeable on variety, justice, and inclusion who was within the viewers for the episode.
“I feel it is vital to call and voice when racism comes up,” mentioned Banks. “The truth is that we won’t work our manner out of racism properly. We are able to say the correct factor, however what are we going to do, what actions are we going to take? That is why it is essential not solely to be performative, however to show ourselves to be ready to grasp the historical past behind actions and to be prepared to do one thing completely different.”
Season 27 co-contestant Alyssa Jacobs, who’s black, mentioned it was “painful to listen to and see the issues,” Greer had mentioned on Twitter, in response to Individuals. However she mentioned she “revered” Greer “at all times handled it head-on.”
For years, black followers of the present have known as it out for its lack of variety amongst contestants and leads. It wasn’t till the 2020 homicide of George Floyd and a web-based marketing campaign that ABC producers forged Matt James as the primary black lead in “The Bachelor.”
That season was additionally overshadowed by racism when then-host Chris Harrison gave a controversial “Further” interview with the primary Black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay, wherein he defended Season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell for attending a fraternity occasion in 2018 with a pre-war South theme, the interval when slavery was authorized in southern states.
After the interview, Harrison shortly apologized, however ultimately left the sequence after 19 years of internet hosting the franchise, which included “The Bachelorette.”
Lindsey had threatened to chop ties with the franchise in 2020 if it didn’t decide to extra variety. She known as for hiring extra numerous producers, refraining from “creating problematic storylines” for folks of coloration, and discovering leads skilled in interracial courting.
Throughout Lindsey’s “Bachelorette” season, followers attacked her on-line with racial slurs.
Then racist tweets from one in every of that season’s contestants, Lee Garrett, had surfaced on-line. Garrett referred to the Black Lives Matter motion as a “terrorist group” And in another tweetrequested, “What is the distinction between the NAACP and the KKK? Look forward to it… One has the sense of disgrace to cowl their racist faces.”
And final fall, “Bachelorette” Season 19 contestant Erich Schwer was eradicated for an additional blackface incident. A Reddit person had posted a highschool yearbook photograph of Schwer dressed as Jimi Hendrix together with his face painted black. Schwer received the season and have become engaged to Gabby Windey.
Each males have since apologized.
This story initially appeared within the Los Angeles Occasions.
