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Grab a pencil and start your predictions: The men of The Bachelorette are here. ABC just revealed the 31 contestants that will vie for Dallas native Rachel Lindsay's heart this season. This reality series functions like a sporting event — yes, there's love involved, but mainly we're watching 25-31 stupidly attractive people play games until someone wins.
This year, of course, is a little different: The show has its first Black Bachelorette. Since the network announced Lindsay's role, fans have speculated about the diversity of the contestants. In seasons past, The Bachelorette and its sibling shows have been all for tokenism — each crop of contestants usually features one or two people of color. (The prevailing joke is also that these people get kicked off in the first or second episode.) Lindsay herself previously stated that this season, there had better be more contestants of color. Here's how that shook out: Of this year's collection of 31 potential future husbands, 14 of them are persons of color. That's almost 50%.
Most importantly, though, these are all men that may very well win Rachel Lindsay's heart. They will woo her in epic (and embarrassing) challenges. A few will have bizarre jobs that we will endlessly mock on social media. The four most swell guys will earn the privilege of a "hometown date." These are the milestones that really matter. So, as you swipe through the following romantic hopefuls, keep an eye out for Rachel Lindsay's soul mate. He's in there, we promise. (Or ABC promises.)
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