Television personality Rachel Lindsay, who was always vocal about the lack of diversity of 'The Bachelor' franchise, on Friday addressed the latest announcement by the network of its casting the first black 'Bachelor.'
Though happy for Matt James, a 28-year-old real estate broker, who made history by becoming the first black 'Bachelor' on the show, Lindsay called for more efforts from the franchise.
The network's long-running hit dating show has been widely criticized for its lack of diversity in casting.
Upon the news, Lindsay, who is the first and only black woman contestant in the ABC franchise, showered her love on James, but pointed at the timing of casting by the franchise.
"Congrats to Matt James. I am happy to see that a black man was cast after 18 years and 40 seasons. I believe it is a step in the right direction," she wrote on Instagram stories.
" I would be remiss to not point out that based in the current climate, it feels like a knee-jerk reaction and a result of societal pressure. This announcement, without any further commitments regarding diversity, sweeping brushes deeper issues under the rug," Lindsay added.
She noted: "Until we see action to address the systematic racism within the franchise, the casting news today is equivalent to the trend of posting a black box on social media account without other steps taken to dismantle the systems of injustice."
She later explained that she would look forward to seeing the "additional efforts" of the franchise to make changes.
The casting of Matt James, who is also an entrepreneur and community orgsation founder was announced on the official Twitter handle of the show. He has been tapped as the season 25 lead.
( With inputs from ANI )