Big Brother Turns Into a Racist Shit Show as Black Woman Gets Harassed

This season of Big Brother has been remarkable for having the most bigoted, openly hateful cast members in the reality show’s 13-year history. Now they’ve decided to be more direct with their racism, targeting Candice, the only African-American woman in the house, by messing with her bed and personal property, and telling her, “Now will see the black come outta you.”

In addition the lead racist in the house, Aaryn, put on an affect—rolling her neck, snapping her fingers, etc.—and asked, “Whatchu gone do, girl? Whatchu gone do?”

A third contestant, GinaMarie, got in Candice’s face and yelled, “Is the black gonna come out?”

It got so bad that Howard, the only African-American man in the house, came into the room and physically removed Candice so that she wouldn’t get in a fight. Candice then broke down in tears over all the racial slurs and what they’ve had to endure in the house. After he was done counseling her, and when he was finally alone, Howard himself began to cry.

The offensive remarks have been going on for almost the entire three weeks that the contestants have been living in the house, but they were usually expressed in smaller groups and only around other white people. This is the first time that the rampant racism that has been going on was so flagrantly directed to someone’s face.

Initially, CBS had not addressed the bigotry or included any of it in the edited episodes of the show, but the houseguests are filmed 24/7. They can’t hide from the live feeds, which are available on the Internet through a subscription service, and feed watchers began sharing clips of the hateful comments on YouTube. A bigotry supercut is above, but here are some highlights:

• Aaryn mocks Korean-American contestant Helen by using “Asian voice,” talking about getting her nails done, happy endings, making rice, and squinty eyes.
• GinaMarie mentions that she should punch Helen in the face to “uncross her eyes.”
• Aaryn refers to gay houseguest Andy as a “faggot” and “queer.”
• GinaMarie says that Howard and Candice are going to be an alliance because “the blacks stick together.”
• Aaryn points out that the black and white fish in the house’s aquarium are appropriately segregated with the white ones on top and the black on the bottom.
• Aaryn references Candice’s skin color saying that you have to be careful in the dark “because you might not see the bitch.”
• GinaMarie refers to welfare as “nigger insurance.”

There’s a ton more, and others are guilty of prejudiced remarks, but Aaryn and GinaMarie take it to another level that truly seems mean-spirited, and not just run-of-the-mill ignorance. It doesn’t help that they have a healthy-sized peanut gallery of other meanies that laugh at everything they say.

And their comments within the game have affected their real lives. Aaryn was dropped from her modeling agency, and GinaMarie was fired from her job as a coordinator of beauty pageants. The contestants are barred from knowing about anything outside of the house unless it’s a death in the family. (The last time production intervened in this way was to tell the houseguests about September 11, as one cast member’s cousin, who worked in the World Trade Center, was missing.)

Eventually, CBS couldn’t ignore the public outcry. The network began including the remarks as part of the storyline in the show. Last night’s episode was aired with with the following disclaimer:

Big Brother is a reality show about a group of people who have no privacy 24/7. At times, the Houseguests may reveal prejudices and other beliefs that CBS does not condone. Views or opinions expressed by a Houseguest are those of individuals speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS. Viewer discretion is advised.