Fans Have A Lot To Say About Tayshia & Ivan's Talk About Race On 'The Bachelorette'
The Bachelor franchise is all about helping people find love — and, let's be real, also bringing fans the most dramatic seasons ever. But, as one of the most-watched TV series on primetime, the show also provides a huge platform to discuss important causes, and it's something the franchise seems to finally be embracing in a significant way in 2020. In the Nov. 24 episode of The Bachelorette, Tayshia and Ivan had a really important talk about race, and the tweets in reaction to the convo point out how big a step this is.
Tayshia Adams and Ivan Hall got to spend some extra 1-on-1 time together after Week 7's first group date. The couple spent a cozy night in getting to know each other, and they had a pretty deep conversation about their respective identities. They bonded over the fact that they're both mixed-race backgrounds (Tayshia is Black and Mexican; Ivan is Black and Filipino), and the conversation naturally flowed to some serious topics.
In discussing his brother's time spent in prison, Ivan brought up the history of violence correctional officers have in those environments. He also connected his brother's experience to the recent death of George Floyd and other acts of police brutality, which then prompted a conversation between him and Tayshia about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Tayshia got pretty emotional as she discussed her experience of being a mixed-race woman. She cried as she told Ivan:
I think being in Orange County, surrounded by a lot of people who don't look like me, being the only person that looks like me, I'm realizing that I've been trying so hard my whole life to blend in, because I knew I was different. And then I just remember hearing people yelling Black Lives Matter. I mean, I don't know why it made me cry. It's a lot.
She went on to say:
This conversation is hitting me more than I ever thought. But I didn't really want to cry about it or open up about it, but hearing people yell Black Lives Matter, it hit me more than I realized, just because those are people in my backyard who I've been trying to prove for so long that I'm the same as them.
Fans on Twitter were heartened by the time The Bachelorette gave to this important conversation, especially after the show has been criticized for its lack of diversity in the past. Tayshia is only the second Black Bachelorette (after Rachel Lindsay) in the show's history, and Matt James' upcoming season of The Bachelor will be the first one with a Black male lead.
Both Tayshia and Ivan seemed grateful for the opportunity to connect with each other on a deep level like this. "I've never had this before, someone mixed like me," Tayshia said. "It's opened my eyes to say like, 'What the hell are you doing? Like, wake up!' Having different beautiful relationships with people I probably wouldn't have the fortune to meet is amazing to me."
After they wrapped up their convo, Tayshia gave Ivan a rose, and Bachelor Nation collectively gave The Bachelorette a rose for airing their important conversation.
Season 16 of The Bachelorette continues on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
