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Bachelor Nation praises ‘Bachelorette’ for discussing interracial dating
Andrew S. opened up a very important discussion about interracial relationships during his one-on-one date with Katie Thurston on The Bachelorette Monday, . “I hate that I even have to have this conversation, because I don’t want to, but the fact that I am, it’s because I do truly see, you know, something between us. And I am a Black man. And you are a white woman, and interracial couples, there’s things that, you know, people look at differently,” Andrew told Katie. The 26-year-old pro football player then shared a heartbreaking story about almost proposing to a woman who he said was unsure if she could handle the judgment passed by others. Andrew shared, “I know her heart, and I know her character. She’s not racist or anything, but she was worried about going to a grocery store and someone asking, ‘Are these your kids?’ And they’d not look like her. And it was tough for me, you know? That was a woman that I thought, you know, I was gonna propose to soon. And hearing that, it was tough, you know?” In response, Katie told Andrew, “That, like, breaks my heart to hear that you experienced that. I feel so naive as a white woman of the struggles that you experience as a Black man, especially a Black man trying to date a white woman. Know that, for me, I think our love could be so beautiful, and our children would be just as beautiful as that love, and I don’t give a **** when people want to look at me.” Bachelor Nation was both surprised and impressed by Andrew and Katie’s very “real conversation,” as some viewers pointed out that it was “a far cry from last season,” because it was “a conversation that literally seemed impossible on Matt James’s season.” However, they weren’t so surprised by Katie’s perfect response. “Know that that has never crossed my mind, and maybe that’s because I’m naive as a white woman, you know, but, and maybe that’s just in the community that I live in, but I never had to think that way because, to me, all I want in life is love. You know, all I want is to have a beautiful family regardless of how they look,” shared Katie.