As the first-ever black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay was inevitably going to be asked about race, whether she preferred to talk about it or not. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lindsay really wants to make sure you know she doesn’t care about race. “It’s just who I was developing connections with, and I wasn’t paying attention to a race, career or an age,†she says. “It was just what I was feeling with them.â€
This season has arguably the most diverse cast and has even converted some critics of the show — like NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He guest stars on the second episode of The Bachelorette, airing tonight, and has been vocal about his frustration with previous seasons, writing in a column how African-American contestants were “predictably cut loose after an appropriately polite we-don’t-see-color period of time.†When asked how her show will combat that notion, Lindsay says, “I think that everyone, and I could be guilty of it, too, doesn’t really know how this show goes until you’re actually in it. You just assume that it’s a typical reality TV show, but once you’re in it, it’s real. I can’t say that my time on the show combats that.â€
She also talked about pressures she’s felt from “America or black America†and how she couldn’t get caught up in choosing a man to please a certain community. “Race didn’t play in as a factor when it came to choosing men along the way,†says Lindsay, who recently announced she did find love on the show and is engaged. “In my final decision, I just went with my heart and the person I found my forever with.â€