Entertainment

ABC calls white, Latin man its first ‘non-Caucasian’ ‘Bachelor’

PETAL PUSHER: Juan Pablo Galavis, who’s from Venezuela, has been cast as the next “Bachelor.” (AP)

After 11 years and dozens of murdered red roses, ABC finally — FINALLY — announced its first “non-Caucasian” “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” in franchise history.

Drum roll . . . equality!

Unfortunately, new “The Bachelor” star — Venezuelan Juan Pablo Galavis — looks so white he could easily slip into a Mitt Romney family photo.

Sure, ABC deserves props for belatedly giving a Latino the leading role in its long-running series. It’s a move in the right direction, especially in the wake of the last “Bachelor,” Sean Lowe, a tall glass of milk who was saving himself for marriage. But considering the homogenous array of men (and women) ABC has paraded out season after white-washed season, you’d think show execs would have had the guts to make a stronger statement with their first “non-Caucasian” “Bachelor” than an all-American-looking South American.

Yes, Galavis, 32, is different. And he has the accent to prove it — despite being born and schooled in New York. But why not go full-steam-ahead and cast an Asian man? Or a black man? Or a hunky piece of Middle Eastern meat? Give the viewers a difference they can see. This is TV, after all.

Dipping a toe into diversity is a weak move for a series that’s been ripped repeatedly for never choosing a minority star.

A February 2010 Newsweek column, “A Black President before a Black Bachelor?” pondered how it was possible this country could elect an African-American POTUS before a silly TV show could muster the courage to cast a black star.

Could it be that ABC was scared of alienating its viewers? Or perhaps frightened that it would — gasp! — have to deal with the oh-so-scary concept of interracial dating? Assuming, of course, that the female contestants wouldn’t be recast according to “The Bachelor’s” race. (To no one’s surprise, white women comprise the majority of “Bachelor” rose-grabbers and tend to make it further along in the game than their ethnic counterparts).

Last year, two black “Bachelor” hopefuls, Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson, filed a federal lawsuit against ABC, the show’s production companies and “Bachelor” creator Mike Fleiss, claiming they were deliberately excluded from the show because of their skin color. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, but ABC’s reluctance to cast a black man in the starring role still prevails — despite its self-congratulatory statement vis a vis Galavis (a contestant on this season of “The Bachelorette”).

Asked for comment, a show publicist answered via e-mail that “our choice with Juan Pablo speaks for itself.”

That, ABC, is exactly the problem.