Rachael Kirkconnel unintentionally becomes the main focus of Matt James’ season bachelor. She came into the spotlight in 2018 for a photo of her wearing a plantation-inspired dress at an “Old South”-themed frat party.If not, this may have been covered up bachelor During the 13-minute screed, host Chris Harrison additional, During this time, he defended Kirk Cornell’s actions, complaining that “wake up the police” and angry social media users. Like everyone, Rachel is a product of her environment, which happens to have an extremely racist past.
During the hometown date, Rachel told Matt she was from Cumming, Georgia. COVID-19 has made it impossible for her to visit her hometown, and many internet users joked that it was for the best. The town has a very racist history as a “sunset town.” A sundown town is any place that once had restrictive curfew laws against African Americans. As the name suggests, Sunset Towns were highly segregated cities or counties that blacks could only enter during the day. They could visit and even work in the town, but once night fell any black citizen found in the town could be arrested, beaten, or worse.
Published from the 1930s to the 1960s, the travel guide known as the “Green Book” helped African-Americans navigate the thousands of sunset towns that dot the map. Sunset Townships have existed for over 100 years across the United States, from the South and Midwest, all the way to California and New York. While sunset laws no longer exist, many former sunset towns remain heavily segregated.according to Associated Press, people of color who pass through Sunset Town (also called Gray Town or Sunset Town, or sometimes no name at all) say they get strange looks and feel uncomfortable. Rachael Kirkconnell’s hometown is one of Georgia’s three official sunset towns.
In fact, the entire county where Rachel lives, Forsyth County, is considered a sunset town because of its racist curfew laws.as NPR Specifically, in 1912, angry mobs drove the entire black population out of Forsyth County (Cumming was the county seat). However, according to Cumming residents, things are changing.A Cumming local explains Reddit As a growing suburb in the diverse city of Atlanta, Cumming has become increasingly socially and racially diverse. He also said that in the 2020 election, Democratic candidates have gained 8% more votes than they did in 2016.
2019 US Census Bureau The town’s racial population is estimated to be 83.1 percent White, 22.5 percent Hispanic or Latino, 6.2 percent Asian and Pacific Islander, 5.5 percent Black or African American, and 0.8 percent American Indian . That’s not exactly a portrait of a diverse city. Rachel might be lucky that Matt James doesn’t have to go to Cumming, Georgia, though Kirk Cornell probably won’t mention its dark past.While we all think about race bachelor It has been suggested that it is important to understand what happens after dark in many towns across the United States.
bachelor Airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Sources: Associated Press, NPR, Reddit, U.S. Census Bureau