Greer Blitzer, a contestant on the newest season of “The Bachelor,” gave a second apology for defending a former classmate who wearing a racist blackface costume at a Halloween get together. This time, the apology was in entrance of a stay studio viewers.
In October throughout the filming of the twenty seventh season of the ABC actuality relationship present, which already had a troubled historical past of racism, screenshots of deleted tweets had surfaced on Reddit that confirmed Blitzer coming to her buddy’s protection. On the time, her buddy was 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 “dumb however not racist” and that “it wasn’t an intentional racist act.”
Shortly after the season’s first episode aired in January, Greer issued her first apology in her Instagram story and wrote, “In my previous, I’ve made some uneducated, ignorant and albeit, mistaken, feedback on my social media accounts. Specifically, in 2016, I used misguided arguments on Twitter to defend a scholar who wearing Blackface as Tupac for Halloween.”
“I’m deeply sorry to these I’ve harm, particularly these throughout the Black group, not as a result of these screenshots have resurfaced, however as a result of I ever shared these dangerous opinions in any respect,” the 24-year-old continued, including that her younger age was no excuse for her actions.
Greer, initially from the Houston space, gave a robust first impression to “The Bachelor” star Zach Shallcross. Nevertheless, Shallcross finally determined to not grant Greer a rose for a hometown date, which despatched Greer dwelling.
She was as soon as once more confronted in regards to the challenge throughout Tuesday’s episode, wherein the eradicated contestants sat with the present’s host, Jesse Palmer, for temporary interviews in entrance of a stay viewers.
Palmer acknowledged the present’s historical past of racist incidents, admitting that “as a franchise, we have carried out a really poor job up to now of addressing critical matters head on.”
“I’ve been wanting to deal with this. I don’t need to sweep it below the rug,” Blitzer started. “What I failed to say in my apology was that what occurred was racist. It is not in regards to the intent, it is in regards to the impression. And this acquaintance of mine that I knew performing blackface was racist, me defending it was racist, my ignorance was racist, and I am simply so ashamed. I am simply deeply sorry that I harm the Black group.”
She mentioned she was educating herself on the historical past of blackface. Beforehand, Blitzer had met with Kira Banks, a psychology professor at St. Louis College and an professional in range, fairness and inclusion who was within the viewers for the episode.
“I feel it is essential to call and provides voice when racism comes up,” Banks mentioned. “The truth is we won’t good our approach out of racism. We will say the precise factor, however what are we gonna do, what actions are we going to take? In order that’s why it is actually essential to not simply be performative however to teach ourselves to be prepared to know the historical past behind actions and be prepared to do one thing completely different.”
Fellow Season 27 contestant Alyssa Jacobs, who’s Black, mentioned it “was hurtful to listen to and see the issues” Greer had mentioned on Twitter, in response to Individuals. However she mentioned she “revered” that Greer “all the time confronted it head-on.”
For years, Black followers of the present have referred to as it out for its lack of range amongst contestants and leads. It wasn’t till after the homicide of George Floyd in 2020 and a web based marketing campaign that ABC producers forged Matt James as the primary Black lead on “The Bachelor.”
That season had additionally been overshadowed by racism when then-host Chris Harrison gave a controversial “Additional” interview with the primary Black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay, wherein he defended Season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell for attending a fraternity get together in 2018 with an antebellum South theme, the interval when slavery was authorized in Southern states.
After the interview, Harrison rapidly apologized however finally left the collection after 19 years of internet hosting the franchise that features “The Bachelorette.”
Lindsey in 2020 had threatened to chop ties with the franchise if it didn’t decide to extra range. She referred to as for the hiring of extra various producers, refraining from “creating problematic storylines” for individuals of shade and discovering leads that had expertise with interracial relationship.
Throughout Lindsey’s “Bachelorette” season, followers attacked her on-line with racial slurs.
Then, racist tweets from of one in all 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 tweet, requested, “What’s the distinction between the NAACP and the KKK? Look forward to it…One has the sense of disgrace to cowl their racist a– faces.”
And final fall, “Bachelorette” Season 19 contestant Erich Schwer was outed for an additional blackface incident. A Reddit consumer had posted a highschool yearbook photograph of Schwer dressed as Jimi Hendrix along with his face painted black. Schwer went on to win the season and have become engaged to Gabby Windey.
Each males have since apologized.
This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Occasions.
