The Whiteness of TV Courtship

Juan Pablo Galavis is the only Bachelor of Color in the Bachelor series

Caila Quinn was considered for the Bachlorette franchise but was rejected in favor of 

Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher

Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher is the face of the new Bachlorette

It has been coming up in the news recently regarding the last bastion of racism/classism:  TV Dating shows, particularly the Bachelor and the Bachelorette shows. Ms. Meredith Blake of the Los Angeles Times discuss this sensitive topic on race/ethnicity and courtship on both The Bachelor and The Bachlorette shows. 

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A handsome, fair-haired man waits expectantly outside a palatial mansion as a horse-drawn carriage pulls up the drive. A beautiful young brunette in a floor-length gown emerges playing the violin, then pauses to introduce herself: "Hi, I'm Shamiqua."

Suddenly a producer interrupts: "Cut! Cut! Cut!" Shamiqua, she explains, does not have "wife potential." The problem: She's black.

"It is not my fault that America's racist, people," the producer proclaims.

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Yeah, the centuries-old racist ideology of Black women not being suitable wife material dating from slavery onward to Jim Crow to recent stereotyping and racial backlash.  Why do you think antimiscegenation laws existed until 1967 when U.S. Supreme Court struck down those hateful laws in the Loving v. Virginia.  Witness how White Conservatives and Liberals trash Michelle Obama, Beyonce, Charlaine DeBlasio, Jada Pinkett,  Ayesha Curry, etc., for being and maintaining successful marriages.  It seems to me that people and the mainstream media are jealous of Black women and their relationships.  Could it be why the media tried so hard to push the unloving, demanding single Black woman narrative of the past 10 years?  Could it be that they push unflattering stereotypes of Black women in reality shows such as the Housewives of Atlanta, Basketball Wives, etc?

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The scene is from the Lifetime series "UnREAL," which follows the backstage drama at a fictional dating competition show called "Everlasting." Last week, a similar shade of reality invaded the carefully constructed fantasy of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette," the long-running ABC reality franchise that inspired "UnREAL."

Recent comments made by Fleiss on Twitter seem to undermine this claim. Fleiss tweeted March 5 that the identity of the new bachelorette would be revealed via the social media platform, adding in a subsequent tweet, "After 5 years of BBQ chicken as our Night One dinner, I'm thinking of mixing things up this year. Maybe a little Thai food ... Yum!"
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Objectifying women with food references is bad, but when it is mixed with race and ethnicity, that's not cool.  The producers know better than that.
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Some saw the tweet as an indelicate metaphor about the ethnicity of the new bachelorette, an impression strengthened by this update, which arrived two days after Fletcher was announced as the new bachelorette: "I chickened out and went with BBQ chicken. If it ain't broke ... #Bachelorette."

Many have argued that Fleiss and his colleagues care only about ratings and worry that an interracial romance would alienate less-tolerant viewers — this despite a profusion of mixed-race couples on hits including ABC's "Scandal" and AMC's "The Walking Dead." Furthermore, the success of shows such as "Empire" and "The Wiz" has shown that inclusiveness can also be good for the bottom line.
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That's a cop-out and they know it.  Mainstream media and its masses do not want to see a successful interracial romance, whether be between White and People of Color or among People of Color, i.e. Black and Asian, Hispanic and Asian, Middle Eastern and Black, American Indian and Latino, etc.  Heck, it barely show Black couples together loving each other instead of fighting and having meaningless relationships.
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It could simply be that producers are reluctant to spoil the gauzy fantasy of a fireside couple's massage with a probing discussion of racial difference — a circumstance rarely acknowledged in the artificially post-racial universe of the shows, argues Rachel Dubrofsky, an associate professor at the University of South Florida. "The assumption is that a woman of color can as easily date a white man as a man of color, as if race is nonexistent. This does not effectively address issues of diversity and the real, lived ways in which people are impacted by racial difference."

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Please don't even try to deny that the show doesn't reflect real life.  America is much more polarized than ever.  Racial, ethnic, and class segregation has increased in the last 10 years.  The Tea Party and corporatist/wealthy wing of the Republican and Democratic parties have promoted racial divisiveness leading to the rise of Donald Trump.  Recent studies have revealed that nonblack men who proclaim colorblind ideology are far less likely to date/marry/have families with Black women(may I also say other women of Color such as Latinas, South Asian women, Pacific Island women, Middle Eastern women, Southeast Asian women(Filipinas excepted) and Native American women).

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"The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" are hardly unique within the reality genre, which has been plagued by allegations of racial insensitivity since the very first season of "The Real World" in 1992.

More recently, contestants on "Big Brother" were caught on tape making derogatory comments about African American and Asian American housemates. Other shows, including "The Real World" and "The Celebrity Apprentice," have been criticized for trafficking in negative stereotypes or stoking racial tension for ratings.
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In the latest Bachelor episode,  contender Jubilee was subjected to racial  taunting by her fellow contestants, saying that she doesn't have the right credentials to be his future wife.
According to the Huffington Post article, fellow contestants said that she wouldn't fit in as "a soccer mom wife." 

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The guise of reality gives producers of shows like "The Bachelor" a convenient excuse, says Dubrofsky, author of the book "The Surveillance of Women on Reality Television: Watching 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette.'" "The makers of the show are easily let off the hook since they can say, 'We are only showing you what the person actually did, which we happened to catch on camera.'"

This season on "The Bachelor," Haitian-born Jubilee Sharpe became an early standout among the contestants, briefly buoying hopes that a black woman would have a shot at the final rose or title of "The Bachelorette." But her initial success provoked jealous sniping from her housemates, who spoke about her in language that, to many viewers, had racial connotations. Sharpe wasn't right for bachelor Ben Higgins because she wouldn't be "friends with all the other soccer moms," said one blond contestant. Sharpe was eliminated two weeks later.

Still, she lasted much longer than the average black contestant on '"The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette." A recent survey by Fusion found that 59% of black contestants leave the show within the first two episodes, which now run for 10 weeks, and that no black contestant had ever made it past Week 5.

Here's the chart from the Washington Post Chronicalling the number of People of Color in both the Bachelor and Bachelorette series

Here are two charts showing the number of People of Color contestants and winners from each episode.

Because producers typically cast a popular but rejected contestant as the next bachelor or bachelorette, this has created a "cycle [of] white contestants, white star," notes Andy Dehnart, editor of the website Reality Blurred.

Dubrofsky's research has also shown that there are fewer men of color on "The Bachelorette" than women of color on "The Bachelor," a disparity that she believes reinforces negative ideas about the romantic suitability of nonwhite men and the notion that white men are "saviors."
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Duh, historically White women weren't allow to have relationships with men of Color and vice versa.  Such relationships are controversial to this day.  Think about shock radio Bob Dumas hateful commentary on White woman/Native American marriage in 2008.  Richard Cohen's racist article about Mayor DeBlasio and his family as well as the hateful commentary from YouTube users regarding the Cheerios Commercial featuring an interracial family back in 2013.  We really haven't progressed when it comes to interracial/interethnic relationships.
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The truly groundbreaking thing, Dubrofsky added, would be a season featuring a nonwhite star and predominantly diverse contestants. For now, however, "the story of love on 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette' is about two white people finding love."
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So True! Black relationships need to be shown on TV more. Media also need to show more People of Color in love as well as interracial couples on TV but that's wishful thinking as long as racism/white supremacy shape our lives including romance.

Links:
http://www.karenx.com/blog/minorities-on-the-bachelor-when-do-they-get-eliminated/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jubilee-bachelor-eliminated_us_56b10ccfe4b0fbfdd61587f8

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/21/the-bachelor-and-bachelorette-inside-the-racial-discrimination-lawsuit.html

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/ap/racial-disparity-on-abc-s-bachelor-franchise-irks-critics/article_219633a3-2feb-515b-a18e-9ae7442d40a9.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/03/13/470124738/what-would-it-mean-to-have-a-hapa-bachelorette

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-unreal-bachelor-20160326-story.html

http://httpjournalsaolcomjenjer6steph.blogspot.com/2013/12/from-past.html

Josh Duggar: I Got Needs!

Josh Duggar confirms he cheated on his wife. Jim Bob hasn't confirmed his cheating yet! The oldest son of the Duggars was named in the Ashley Madison hack. This hack is one of the biggest since the Sony hack.

When Avid Life Media Group got hacked by unknown hacktivists, a massive data dump came. Last week the group that owns Ashley Madison and two other social dating websites was hacked by The Impact Team, a group that stolen personal information about the site's user base, and threatened to release users' names and personally identifying information if Ashley Madison was not immediately shut down. On August 18 and August 20, the group leaked more than 25 gigabytes of company data, including user details.'

Names that popped up included a whole lot of government workers and one washed up reality television star who is an activist for traditional family values.

Josh Duggar already is another example of the wealthy and powerful caught up in sex scandal.

His family suffered a major blow when TLC canceled the 19 Kids and Counting. The show focused on Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. The Duggars had Josh and 18 other children.

A tabloid exposed the Duggars hiding a dark past. Josh was caught sexually abusing his siblings and a babysitter. The law dismissed it and gave him a "there, there" you'll get help talk.

The Duggars kept this quiet until now. It seems like Jessa and Jill were the main victims. They publicly told the junk food media that they forgive Josh and hope the faith will treat him.

Josh Duggar is hoping to save his marriage. He went to cheating website Ashley Madison to seek a freaky girl. His wife Anna could of have been a little freaky. He should have asked her!

It seems like Josh was not treated for his sexual lust. He was named in the Ashley Madison hack.

So he quickly released a statement saying that he's only human. He wants to make amends to his wife Anna and get treatment.

 "I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the Internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife" ... "the last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country I was hiding my own personal failures."

Right?

Josh and Anna have four children together. No telling how many women or men Josh slept with.

Hopefully he doesn't get caught up with a sexually transmitted disease or another Duggar on the side.

I wouldn't be surprised that Jim Bob gets caught up too!

The Duggars are an extremely conservative family. They have supported Republican candidates and fought to keep gay couples from getting married. Josh was the spokesman for the American Family Association. He resigned from the group after he was caught up fondling his siblings.

I'm Staying On The Ballot (For Now)!

Pressuring Congressman Todd Akin (R-Missouri) to drop his bid for U.S. Senate.

Congressman Todd Akin (R-Missouri) is under fire. With good reason. He just opened up a huge distraction. Over the past weekend, the congressman went on a local television program and stated that women can deny legitimate rape.

“It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.

Those comments let up a firestorm. Akin went on the serial conservative agitator Sean Hannity radio program to apologize. He bailed out on Piers Morgan and got a huge tongue lashing from the host. And even went forth to put a web video telling the public that he's sorry for what he's said.



The Missouri Republicans are not buying it. The Republicans want his sorry ass out of the race!

In a mere two weeks you see the implosion of a U.S. Senate candidate. Congressman Akin's bid for the U.S. Senate go up in flames. It's so bad, the Republican Senatorial Committee and state leaders are demanding that Akin step aside. They ceased fundraising. CBS anchor Norah O'Donnell stated that $10 million dollars was stopped after this controversy.

Again, they want him to get out the race! Akin so far is defiant.

According to the Associated Press, if the congressman doesn't concede his nomination by the end of the day, he'll be on the ballot and it's going to be a likely federal court dispute.

While it's likely he'll resign either from Congress or give up his nomination bid, the damage is done.

The Republicans let the grips of victory slip from their grasp. They launched the culture war and this has finally taken a toll.

Breathe easy! Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) is now the frontrunner.  Embattled senator could win reelection.

Another native Missourian had let his loose lips sink his radio endorsements and ratings. Yet, he's managed to strive in this controversy and managed to pull in a few new listeners. That commentator went off on a Georgetown law student and called her a "slut" and wanted to see "her make a sex tape". He caught the attention of President Barack Obama who offered comfortable words to this private citizen. This private citizen became the public voice of women's rights. That Missourian is Rush Limbaugh and the woman is Sandra Fluke. This controversy was this year.

Congressman Todd Akin really effed up! He made it easier for his opponent Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri). President Barack Obama and Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) will rile up women votes by tying Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and running mate Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) to the extreme views of Akin and likely Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa).

This is an ongoing issue. This controversy was discussed by me and LeReyna. I believe this will be the turning point for the Democratic Party. This controversy will eventually die off! But as of right now, if the Democrats and President Barack Obama outline the gridlock in Congress and issues such as this controversy, they'll have a better chance at winning.

We here at Journal de la Reyna will cover this controversy.

Did GOP Congressman Sink His Senate Bid?

Congressman Todd Akin (R-Missouri) is under fire for comments about rape victims. The comments gave Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) an opening.  

Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) is the most vulnerable member of the U.S. Senate. Her state highly disapproves of her and President Barack Obama. A major swing state, it's trending more redder. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) carried the state by just a point. The Republican candidates who are running for the U.S. Senate are hoping the bad economy and President Barack Obama's job approval could be the ticket to reclaiming the Senate.

Congressman Todd Akin (R-Missouri) won the Missouri GOP primary and will be the one running against McCaskill.

Akin is a Republican member of Congress since 2001. His district covers the suburban St. Louis County.

Akin won a bitterly fought primary against two other candidates, one rival being endorsed by Tea Party maven former governor Sarah Palin. Akin wasn't endorsed by Palin, but managed to win over Missouri Republicans.

Akin who is a pro-lifer said something over the weekend that may have gave a struggling McCaskill the break she needed.

Republicans emboldened by the culture wars have finally taken its toll. Akin being a representative of the culture war, said something inappropriate about rape victims and the media has zeroed in on it!



According to Talking Points Memo, a progressive blog, his opposition to abortion rights even in case of rape with a claim that victims of “legitimate rape” have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) has distanced herself from President Barack Obama. She is facing a tougher reelection this year.

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in an interview posted Sunday. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Akin said that even in the worst-case scenario — when the supposed natural protections against unwanted pregnancy fail — abortion should still not be a legal option for the rape victim.

“Let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something,” Akin said. “I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”


A 1996 study by the American Journal of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found “rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency” and is “a cause of many unwanted pregnancies” — an estimated “32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.”

In a tweet, McCaskill said she was “stunned” by Akin’s comments.

After the interview caused a firestorm, Akin said in a statement that he “misspoke.”

Akin is perhaps the boldest among a crop of conservative 2012 nominees who could hamper GOP efforts to take back the Senate in the fall. Akin has called for an end to the school-lunch program and a total ban on the morning-after pill.

His claim about “legitimate” types of rape is not completely foreign to the current Republican Congress, however. In 2011, the House GOP was forced to drop language from a bill that would have limited federal help to pay for an abortion to only victims of “forcible rape.” Akin was a co-sponsor on the bill.

Nor is this Akin’s first time suggesting some types of rape are more worthy of protections than others. As a state legislator, Akin voted in 1991 for an anti-marital-rape law, but only after questioning whether it might be misused “in a real messy divorce as a tool and a legal weapon to beat up on the husband,” according to a May 1 article that year in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Fox Nation: That Lazy N****r Van Jones Is A Racist Communist!

                           

Arianna Huffington is co-chair of AOL News and Entertainment. Her world famous blog The Huffington Post beats out conservative blogger Matt Drudge's The Drudge Report in a 4:1 margin. But that hasn't stopped the founder Matt Drudge and his affiliate website The Fox Nation. These news agitation websites attract conservatives, and likely white supremacists. These folks can't stand the first Black president and the guy they claim is a "devout Communist racist!" The Fox Nation comes forth with a picture that Arianna Huffington took with her iPhone. The picture of Van Jones, former Obama adviser sleeping in a pod at the AOL Huffington Post office.

Van Jones the co-founder of The Color Of Change is pushing forth a national boycott against Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. His organization allied with rapper Nas to deliver a petition to Roger Alies, the CEO of the company. Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are notorious conservative agitators. They've pushed the bar lower when it comes to driving wedge issues between the president and the American voters. The liberal activist has been in the crosshairs of the conservative media. They were upset that Jones called the Republicans a bunch of "assholes" for the constant gridlock and desires to defeat President Barack Obama.

Civil Rights activist Van Jones.

Jones is a co-founder of three non-profit organizations. In 1996, he founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a California non-governmental organization (NGO) working for alternatives to violence. In 2005, he co-founded Color of Change, an advocacy group for African Americans. In 2007, he founded Green For All, a national NGO dedicated to "building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty." His first book, The Green Collar Economy, was released on October 7, 2008, and reached number 12 on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2008, Time magazine named Jones one of its "Heroes of the Environment". Fast Company called him one of the "12 Most Creative Minds of 2008".

In March 2009 Jones was appointed by President Barack Obama to the newly created position of Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where he worked with various "agencies and departments to advance the administration's climate and energy initiatives, with a special focus on improving vulnerable communities." 

In July 2009 he became "embroiled in a controversy" over his past political activities, including a public comment disparaging congressional Republicans, his name appearing on a petition for 911Truth.org, and allegations of association with a Marxist group during the 1990s. For these issues, Van Jones was heavily criticized by conservatives. Jones resigned from the position in early September 2009."On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

Jones is currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior policy advisor at Green For All. Jones also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

A great man with achievements and all these conservatives could say is located below:

Wills510  Just now
This is a man who has earned a dirt nap. It can't happen soon enough.


Patriot69  3 hours ago
I guess being a full time communist is taking a toll on him.
william.reynolds  4 hours ago


Glen Beck had Van Jones' number from day one.  A professional community agitator and fellow Obama Marxist.


mystic35  1 hour ago


America is the safest when socialist are asleep--- it known as collateral damage.
Liberals will crawl back into the wood work like roaches in November.........


bcrn1  4 hours ago
While visions of Hammers and Sickles danced through his head...
johndeagun  5 hours ago
Looks like he's in a coffin .... which is a good look for Van
Jugears McGhetto Jr  6 hours ago
Typical Obama supporter, most of the time they're sleeping on our time, our dime, our property, I mean Obama himself treats the white house furniture like it's a barnyard when the cameras are around, just imagine what he's doing when they're not looking... so why would his bum buddies do any different.
I'd bet this guy shacks at the white house all the time. or anywhere that'll have him for the night.. ;)
And see how O treats our white house furniture here: Google this headline: Mr. President, Please Get Your Feet Off the Desk!
fweepfwup  3 hours ago
Yep, hating White people and being a treasonous Communist scumbag is an exhausting job. Just ask Obama. 
tularockstar  3 hours ago in reply to fweepfwup
Ask the CBC and Al Sharpton too!

mystic35  46 minutes ago in reply to tularockstar

Left a couple of the list - the blk panthers, Jessie Jackson & don't forget King O.

justicerules4  6 hours ago

Too bad the rat b a s t a r d woke up.

This is what you've expect from those in the conservative movement. A bunch of reactionary bigots who think they know what it's like to be a "patriot"! Everyone who doesn't support their views are the enemy.

We really should be upset over how they type comments. They have the worst spelling and grammar mistakes by far. Yet, they know everything and if you tell them facts, they'll think it's a bunch of liberal lies.