Leah Block has issued an apology for her insensitive tweet about Rachel Lindsay's season of The Bachelorette that many people on social media called racist.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
"I come forward honestly and openly, to extend my sincere apology for the tweet from my account on Monday, June 19th regarding the current season of The Bachelorette," Block wrote.
"The tweet came from a place that humored the failure of representation of minorities in reality TV and belittled the significance of Rachel's presence on the show."
Block's offensive tweet has since been deleted.
"I'm sitting here watching @BacheloretteABC and my roommate just sat down on the couch and said, 'What is this? @LoveAndHipHop_' DEAD," Block had tweeted, according to Us Weekly, with "DEAD" meaning she was laughing hysterically.
Lindsay, the first-ever black The Bachelorette star, then stood up for herself on Twitter, writing in reply, "Let me know if she wants to meet Lee... they sound like they would have a lot in common #ihavetimetoday."
Lee Garrett is a suitor on The Bachelorette who recently came under fire for allegedly posting racist and sexist tweets a couple of years ago. Garrett has also come across as an instigator and troublemaker on the show, with frontrunner Dean Unglert calling him "intolerant" of others with cultural differences.
"I acknowledge that entertaining this kind of humor is a passive and careless action that stifles the progress the black community has made in television and continue to make in this industry," Block continued in her Facebook statement.
"It is vitally important to prioritize these experiences and help destroy the oppressive forces that threaten minority communities. My tweet did neither of those things, and I see that as a personal failure."
Block -- who competed on Season 20 of The Bachelor starring Ben Higgins and also appeared on Bachelor in Paradise's third season last summer -- said she was "defensive" in her initial responses to angry or concerned social-media users.
"The attacks directed at me felt to be responses to the epidemic of injustice we have towards individuals of marginalized identities, especially the black community. I accept responsibility for my ignorance, and as I move forward I will engage in these issues, so I can become an informed ally who would never consider that tweet to be funny in the first place," Block explained.
Block concluded her apology by saying there should be "no place for hate" in today's world.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"We can't make the future better until we make ourselves better," she noted. "And I'm starting now."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
