Reality TV Hasn’t Always Been Kind to Black Women. Here’s Why I Say So

When Love Island USA season 6 alums JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez confirmed their split on July 29, it didn’t take long for fans to begin speculating about what happened with one of their favorite couples. JaNa, 27, spoke out in a statement via her Instagram Stories, sharing that the theories fans were coming up with didn’t match “how terrible, disgusting and disappointing” the truth really was.

As more of the season 6 cast began to unfollow Kenny, 25, on social media and JaNa’s closest family and friends — including co-stars-turned-best-friends Serena Page and Leah Kateb — began speaking out in her support, the situation quickly escalated from a bad break-up to something entirely different, with several of JaNa’s season 6 cast members and close-knit support system accusing Kenny of being a racist and using his former girlfriend for notoriety. 

Her best friend, Charmaine Smith’s post in particular, pulled no punches.

“If you have access, go thru your mans phone TODAY,” Smith wrote in a immediately-deleted post shared to Instagram Stories. “Search keywords like ‘I don’t like black women, I thought I would get more money from this, I’m faking this relationship, going on the show would be for clout, I can’t wait to be done w this so I can f— hella b—–.”

Kenny made one statement about the break-up and remained silent in the fallout.

PEOPLE reached out to Kenny Rodriguez for comment.

The dissolution of JaNa and Kenny’s relationship made me think of how oftentimes, we’ve seen Black women become the subjects of mistreatment on — and after — these shows, whether it’s from internet trolls or their fellow co-stars. Racism and micro-aggressions appear to permeate large aspects of their reality show experience — from the casting process to the final edits of the episodes, where their stories are sometimes minimized or erased.

It took The Bachelor franchise, for example, 16 years and 34 seasons of the series to have its first Black lead — male or female — in Rachel Lindsay. Over the years since her season premiered in 2017, she has been vocal about the changes she believes need to happen in the franchise, both behind the scenes and in front of the DSLR, so that Black women are portrayed more truthfully as opposed to being boxed into stereotypical tropes. 

In a first-person essay on Vulture, she wrote about her experience from the moment she was cast as a contestant for season 21 (which followed Bachelor Nation favorite Nick Viall’s journey) to 2021, when she decided to remove herself from the franchise completely, opening up about the severe backlash she constantly received from having spoken out about the lack of diversity she saw. 

Lindsay revealed shocking details in the essay about her time with the franchise, including issues with fellow contestants, casting dilemmas and ultimately the predominant storyline centering on racism and colorism in her season. 

“What they did with me they couldn’t have done with another lead,” Lindsay wrote, alluding to specific casting (noting that she had several Black men who didn’t like Black women on her show) and storyline choices, such as focusing on the “angry Black man” stereotype, that she alleged producers made during season 13 of The Bachelorette.

Lindsay said her relationship with Bachelor Nation started to turn after an interview on Extra, during which she asked former host Chris Harrison about season 25 winner Rachael Kirkconnell‘s actions. Photos of Kirkconnell attending an antebellum plantation-themed rave had surfaced as she was vying for James’ heart on the show, and she allegedly liked and shared racially charged social media posts. Harrison, who had hosted the show for 20 years, defended Kirkconnell and was subsequently forced to exit the franchise shortly after the interview with Lindsay. (Both Kirkconnell and Harrison apologized for their actions.)

“The fandom had always had a complicated relationship with me. But it really started to turn against me after that interview,” she wrote.

PEOPLE reached out to ABC for comment.

Her sentiments echoed those of Olandria Carthen and her Love Island USA season 7 co-star Michelle “Chelley” Bissainthe, who have also claimed to have been subjected to negative reactions on social media and said they felt as though they had to “tone down” who they were to ensure they weren’t ruffling any feathers.

“It’s very exhausting to say the least. I truly feel like me and Chelley have to tone down a lot to not cross over that boundary,” Olandria told Baby, This is Keke Palmer host Keke Palmer. “A person that looks the opposite of us, soon as they get emotional, it’s like, ‘We’re gonna cater to this person.’ Like, bro, what about us? Like, I don’t understand.”

CBS’ Big Brother has also seen cast members such as season 15’s Candice Stewart and season 21’s Kemi Fakunle subjected to vile comments and being targeted for simply being themselves. Taylor Hale, who ultimately became the first Black woman winner in Big Brother, became the target of the house during week one and was ostracized by her fellow contestants with no clear reasoning.

Several contestants even said she would “blow up” or become aggressive if she were placed on the elimination block. On the live feeds for the show, Hale could be seen crying because of the mistreatment she endured during her first week in the house.

Some members of The Cookout — an all-Black alliance from the previous season formed to ensure the show got its first Black winner — tweeted in support of Hale. Xavier Pranther, who took the season 20 prize, posted that he hoped “it doesn’t take a “Cookout” for black houseguests (or any POC houseguest) to finally escape the feeling of being ostracized within the Big Brother House for simply existing.”

Micro-aggressions and unfair treatment towards Black women on reality TV are sadly nothing new. And, if hate doesn’t come from inside the show itself, Black women are forced to endure online hate from ruthless fans.

While many people are shocked by the outcome of JaNa and Rodriguez’s relationship, as well as the accusations against Rodriguez, for me, this pattern is an age-old story that Black women know all too well. It’s a story that’s been happening since long before reality television and one that needs to come to an end.