Greer Blitzer received the first impression of Zach Shallcross rising on the first night of “The Bachelor” at the Mansion, making him an almost immediate front-runner for the season. Shortly after the first episode aired, Blitzer found himself in controversy due to a racist Tweet from 2016.
She quickly took to Instagram to issue an apology but addressed the situation again during an episode of “Women Tell All” that aired earlier this week.
Greer Blizter Addresses Blackface Comments
Instagram | Greer Blitzer
In October, someone took to Reddit to share a screenshot of Blitzer’s racist comments, defending the teen’s friend for wearing Blackface at the party. “The students involved don’t know what black face is, so I really mean it. It was not an intentional act of racism,” Blitzer wrote on Twitter at the time according to a screenshot.
During the “Women Tell All” episode, host Jesse Palmer brought up the deleted social media post, saying, “As a franchise, we’ve done a really bad job in the past of dealing with serious topics. And we’re not going to let that happen here. this night.”
To which Blizter agreed, saying, “I don’t want to sweep it under the rug.”
“What I failed to mention in my apology is that what happened was racist,” he went on to explain. “It’s not about intent, it’s about impact and this acquaintance of mine who I know doing Blackface is racist. I maintain it is racist. My ignorance is racist and I am so ashamed. I am deeply sorry that I hurt the Black community.”
Greer Blitzer Sits With Co-Founder of Healing Justice and Equity
Instagram | Greer Blitzer
The 24-year-old went on to explain how he’s working on himself and educating himself for the future, even sitting down with Institute for Healing Justice and Equity co-founder Dr. Count Banks. “He told me that it’s really important to keep an open mind,” Blitzer said. “It is very important to question things and ask and not just do without thinking.”
Blizter also claims he did his own research to understand why what he did was wrong. “I was looking for a lecture, really wanting to dive into the history of Blackface and understand why it’s wrong, why it’s offensive,” he continues to explain. “And the research I was able to do, I just realized it’s symbolism to demean the Black community.”
He understands that he “can’t go back to the past,” but hopes to “try to do better in my future.”
Blitzer’s First Apology
Instagram | Greer Blitzer
The 24-year-old medical sales representative apologized after the first episode of “The Bachelor” aired for past comments she made about a teenage friend wearing blackface at a party.
“The journey to love is filled with lessons and these lessons are also made in the journey of our growth. In my past, I have made some uneducated, ignorant and frankly, wrong comments on my social media accounts,” wrote Blitzer on his Instagram Story. “In particular, I used misguided arguments on Twitter to defend a student dressed in Blackface as Tupac for Halloween.”
“I deeply apologize to those I hurt, especially those in the Black community, not because these screenshots resurfaced, but because I once shared these harmful opinions at all. Time and age have not forgiven my actions, but this is not a reflection of who I am today,” he continued.
Zach Shallcross’ season of “The Bachelor” continues Monday at 8pm ET on ABC. Episodes are available to stream the following day on Hulu.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/