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It was a party celebrating the old South, Lindsay says.

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If I went to that party, what would I represent?

Harrison ignores her, superficially saying he agrees with her before plowing ahead.

Youre a hundred percent right in 2021, Harrison says.

That was not the case in 2018.

Harrison is, by many measures, agreathost ofThe Bachelor.

Its not a mistake hes hung onto the role this long.

Andy Cohen has to maintain a on-screen relationship with the Real Housewives that toggles between scolding and eyebrow-waggling invitation.

Hosts of musical competition shows have to be encouraging and opinionated.

Jeff Probsts role onSurvivorhas often involved meddling directly with the group dynamics while seeming not to.

Hes the feelings doula when things get really big.

Be honest with me, hell say.

Is this what you really want?

Its not an easy job, and more often than not Harrison has done it remarkably well.

He can modulate his persona pretty smoothly based on what arm of the franchise hes operating inside.

All of the paratexts tabloids, spoiler blogs, subreddits, Instagram accounts have become increasingly textual.

Garrett Yrigoyen and Becca Kufrin had to talk about Yrigoyens history of liking Instagram memes of gruesome immigration jokes.

Colton Underwoods season was shaped by leaks about contestants who left the set.

(Also thefirst time I called for his retirement.)

Drama on this season involved yet another off-screen development the discovery of Kirkconnells Instagram post.

ABC and the franchises distributor Warner Bros. have been painfully slow to addressThe Bachelors racism.

Lindsay was the first Black lead ofBachelorette, something that didnt happen until 2017.

Matt James is the first Black lead ofBachelor, which took three more years to happen.

These are not problems that can be solved with cast diversity.

These are problems that stem from implicit and explicitly racist ideologies that power the franchise.

This is some upper level shit.

Removing Chris Harrison as the host of the show will not fixThe Bachelors ongoing race problems.

But that doesnt make it any less worth doing.

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