‘The Bachelor’: Marquel Martin posts letter on Chris Soules, race, and more

Should Marquel Martin had been the next “Bachelor“? We were big proponents of him being chosen for most of the summer, but we also were very aware of the fact that his selection was unlikely for a number of reasons … and yes, it was clear that race was one of them.

Before we bring you our own perspective on the issue, let’s start off with what Marquel himself said in a blog post about being passed over, one where he also congratulated his castmate Chris Soules on getting the gig:

“The most important and obvious elephant in the room that remains to be an underlying concern for some, is the question of will there ever be a black ‘Bachelor’ or ‘Bachelorette’? Let me be clear, I not trying to be that guy. But I’d be lying to myself and the world if I didn’t say that I feel like race played a large factor in this decision.

“What else could it have been?

“Was it because I was on Bachelor In Paradise? I don’t think so.

“Not enough fan support? It sure didn’t feel that way.

“Not ready for love? Definitely not the case.

“As many reasons as there possibly could be, there is one in particular that stands out and that has made me particularly uneasy.”

Marquel has a whole lot more to say in here beyond this, but what we’ll touch on what some critics would say. If you were to claim that Marquel was too conservative, too nice, or wasn’t willing to get all crazy-passionate physically with the cameras present, you could make the same claims about Chris. The only real differences between the two, per the edit on Andi Dorfman’s seasons, were their jobs, their number of dates, their hometowns, and also their race.

More than likely, ABC makes this move continually out of fear. They knew that they had a good, safe option with Chris, so in their mind, why run the risk of a black Bachelor? The problem that there is a risk here, or they are worried about prejudiced viewers, is the problem in the first place.

Maybe someday, we will get a black Bachelor. Maybe it will even be Marquel. We just, sadly, don’t see it happening unless there is a position where a black Bachelor is so overwhelmingly the favorite that it is impossible to ignore. ABC and producers may almost need to be backed into a corner by popularity to realize that likability, and not race, is the most important factor to a good Bachelor.

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Photo: ABC