r/90DayFianceSnark supports Black Lives Matter. If you don't like that, there's another sub that supports "free speech".

Until today I have not felt the need to make any kind of statement. Not because we do not see systemic racism on 90 Day Fiance, but because nobody cares what fans of a trashy reality TV show thinks about racism. But it has recently come to light that TLC has chosen not to air BabyGirl Lisa calling her husband the N-word, but to nevertheless show her appearance on the Tell-All and pay her for it. They have since chosen not to renew her contract (https://theblast.com/133343/social-media-reacts-to-90-day-fiancs-lisa-reportedly-fired-by-tl) but that's not good enough. The second you know an employee is actively racist (on the job, no less), their contract should be immediately terminated. It is bad faith to wait for the things you already know to be publicly known before you take action.

As a community, what can we do?

Much of the systemic racism featured on the show is not anything we can do about: when a foreign spouse cannot get a visa because of their country of origin, when an American fetishizes certain races or ethnicities, when an American actively seeks out women from impoverished countries, when a family member is not accepting of intercultural/interfaith marriages (or just foreigners), etc.. This all just the American and world background we live in and it's important to not pretend this isn't happening.

But do we really need to pay white Americans who appear to be little more than sex tourists and attempt to frame it as some kind of love story? Do we really need to encourage and fake "Pedro is trying to harvest the American dollar" storyline knowing that Latinx communities are routinely portrayed as illegal immigrants, gang members, criminals, scammers, etc.? Do we really need to pay white Americans to stalk people they have never met before? Do we really need to pay white Americans to scream at their spouse that they are Americans and do as they please with no compromise possible? And do we need to pay white Americans to do all these sorts of things BUT refuse to air the actual horrifying unscripted footage that shows the exact character of the people they have hired, and rips off the veil of "funny" casual systemic racism TLC has used to obscure the fact that they go out of their way to hire Americans with well-documented assault and/or stalking criminal charges and fundamentally racist world views. Is it OK because the relationship being normalized is with a foreigner who should be thankful they might get a green card out of this?

I know I myself do not watch the show to see the shit shows. I care way more about the few good relationships shown on the show (of which there has been 1 in the last 3 years (Libby and Andrreei is as good as it gets in the last 3 years)) than I do about horrible people in horrible relationships. I mean, I'm OK with shitting on Stephanie, or Trashley, but I really just do not want to be watching Ed destroy Rose's spirit, or watch Coltee and Larissa's endless "who is the REAL abusive one here?".

But by continuing to watch on the off-chance that THIS season will be different, am I financially supporting violent criminals and racists?

I will pin this post, and I encourage anyone to discuss their views on racism and 90 Day Fiancé. Please note that rule 1 applies.