Back in February, ABC made headlines when the network announced that it would be featuring the first black Bachelorette in the show's 14-year run. Since the official announcement of Rachel Lindsay as the first black Bachelorette, reception has ranged from excited to indifferent to annoyed that it took so long.
Now it appears that the network is taking it a step further by including several black men as potential suitors for the Texas attorney. On Wednesday, ABC revealed that of the 31 men cast for Season 13 of the show, 14 of them are men of color, and 11 of them are black.
After years of backlash aimed at the show's lack of diversity, including a 2012 racial discrimination lawsuit, Channing Dungey ABC’s first African-American to lead the entertainment division of a major broadcast network, addressed the issue during the network's Television Critics Association presentation last year saying, “I would very much very much like to see some changes there, and I think one of the biggest changes that we need to do is we need to increase the pool of diverse candidates in the beginning.”
Dungey has kept true to that promise, and on Monday night Lindsay will head the most inclusive season ever of The Bachelorette.
