New season of The Bachelor, same old racism.
With season 27 of the reality dating staple set to air Monday night, allegations about one contestant are already beginning to surface — and we just wonder where they keep finding these people…
Warning: spoilers ahead!
With Zach Shallcross at the center of this year’s season, fans of the show will surely be curious as to who he’s going to end up hitting it off with. Unfortunately, it seems one rose recipient may have a troubling past — one particularly worrisome considering Bachelor Nation’s history with racism… In since-deleted Instagram posts, 24-year-old medical student Greer Blitzer, who is rumored to receive Zach’s first impression rose on night one OPENLY DEFENDED BLACKFACE. Yes, you read that right.
Related: Bachelorette Finalist Called Out After Blackface Photo Resurfaces
It all started at an off-campus party, which caused a stir at Lamar High School in Houston, Texas. At the 2016 function, a sophomore at the school (NOT Greer) was recorded sporting a t-shirt with Tupac’s face on it and black paint all over her own face. The party was allegedly created by a secret social club, called Wichaka, according to KPRC. A student at the school told the news station at the time:
“I thought it was blackface and I was immediately offended. She was supposed to be Tupac. If you were to impersonate a black person even as a costume I don’t think it’s appropriate to wear black paint on your skin.”
While the initial posts may have been deleted, Reddit users were able to grab screenshots of Greer defending the actions of the girl in question. She apparently wrote:
“The students involved didn’t even know what black face was so my point exactly. It wasn’t an intentional racist act.”
She added:
“She did not paint herself black because she felt superior to black [people].”
She may not have been intentionally racist… but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t racist! The caricaturization of Black people has a very ugly history in this country, and even a college student in 2016 should have known that.
To make matters worse, Greer then went on to try and compare the situation to using white makeup powder:
“Putting white powder on your face isn’t okay either. That didn’t make the news did it? I apologize if this offended you but you must understand it was not initially supposed to be perceived that way at all.”
See all her troubling comments in full HERE.
Related: Black Bachelor Producer Calls Show’s Racism Reckoning ‘A PR Stunt’
Reddit users are NOT happy with the way Greer handled the 2016 situation! The post has over 900 comments calling her out — and pointing out another red flag, or red hat as it were, her support of Donald Trump despite his overtly racist campaign messaging:
“She said blackface isn’t racist and complained that when people use white powder it doesn’t get reported on the news.”
“She’s a Trumper who campaigned for Trump in her full-blown MAGA gear and wore her DIY Trump 2016 shirts with her besties probably.”
“Maybe she was young and didn’t know better then but I’m assuming there were no posts saying she was wrong and shouldn’t have done that.”
One user took aim at ABC for their casting choice, saying:
“I don’t have an issue with conservative contestants but I do have an enormous problem with TPTB (the powers that be) casting yet another racist contestant.”
Not a great start for the show. Doesn’t seem like they’ll be beating the racism allegations anytime soon… Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments down below.
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