Could It Be? ‘Big Brother’ Contestant Says She Was Eliminated Because She’s Old and Black

July 16th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

Source: bigbrothergame.com

I think I’m more shocked by the fact that ”Big Brother” is still on TV than I am any claims of racism, although contestant Jodi Rollins says that’s not what she’s suggesting, exactly. Season 14 of the CBS show debuted last week and during that episode she simultaneously became the first cast member to be eliminated. In the customary follow-up interviews, Jodi gave her thoughts on why she was the first to get the boot and in a double whammy she pulled both the race and the age card when it came to explaining her elimination.

“I have a theory as to why I’m not in the house … older people never win this game and black women never win this game and I’m an older black woman.

“I’m not saying anybody’s racist at all. When it comes to money, you have to make a decision based on what you think people will do. If you’re looking at who’s going to win the game, I’m not who you’d want. In this case, I think [Dan] didn’t choose me for those reasons”

Could be. Everyone comes into that house with their own prejudices and assumptions about what someone can or can’t do, but one thing I’ve noticed (like since desegregation) is that when it comes to a competition and trying to win, if people think you have what it takes, they don’t really care about your skin color or age, more often than not. It’s been a long time since I watched “Big Brother” so I can’t remember what the challenges were about but it’s not like we’re talking “Surivor.” This show always seemed like an older version of “The Real World” to me but with people fighting against each other rather than trying to live togeter as roomates. I don’t know how much of a disadvantage her age would have been or how much race factors into the equation honestly. By pointing out no other black woman ever made it to the top, Jodi does seem to be suggesting either every other cast had racist participants too or CBS has a discriminatory hand in things—both of which we know could be true—but I feel like if she’s going to bring up the race/age angle, she needs to follow through with it and not backtrack on the claim.

Perhaps Jodi just needs some time to let the disappointment settle in, though. On top of getting eliminated during the first show, for some reason she thought there was a chance she would be brought back later. Not exactly.

“I’m upset now, actually. Not happy,” Jodi said once the news finally sunk in. ”They made it seem like there was still hope, so I just kind of found out that there wasn’t. So I’m kind of upset. [I thought] maybe there’d be a twist that I could go back in the house, so that doesn’t seem to be happening and I just found that out.”

We know she’s upset, but is she bitter toward Dan, the man who got her kicked off? She says no.

“No, I’m not bitter at all towards him. I’m disappointed. He made the wrong decision, but no, not bitter to him at all, but I knew he didn’t believe in me from the get-go. I was last chosen, so… that didn’t feel good either.”

What do you think about Jodi’s claim? Do you think she was booted because she’s an older black woman?

Brande Victorian is the news and operations editor for madamenoire.com. Follow her on twitter @Be_Vic.

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  • KnoteeLdy

    Yes I believe color was very much an issue. Even after she was unfairly booted by prejudice Dan and his team they talked about her the entire show. Racial remarks were made by the cast towards blacks, Jodie and President Obama. BBH should bring back an all minority cast with one white person and show how it feels. I am very disappointed in Julie Chen and her cast.

  • Not Surprised

    This doesnt surprise me at all. I have been watching Big Brother since the very first season and from what I have observed, singling out the Black contestants for eviction from the very beginning has always been their m.o. I remember when Marcell was a contestant. He was very well-liked and popular but I remember how the were gunning for him from the very beginning. If my.memory serves correctly, he either won or came very close. But its always the same. Big Brother has a history of racist tactics. I think the producers should be individually called out on this, as well as the players. They disgust me to no end.

  • http://www.facebook.com/minkysmom82 Alexis Morris

    ugh. I don’t know why black people even apply for bb and survivor. some of the contestants on survivor are openly bigoted, and even though it’s veiled bigotry in bb, it’s still there. They accuse black females of causing so much ‘drama’ when they are just defending themselves.

  • kickash

    maybe she shouldn’t have been going on reality tv anyway, it does nothing to improve the image of black people. theres bigger injustices happening to black people than this so i don’t really feel sorry for her.

    • Rebecca

      Why should that fact prevent a person from partaking in a reality show when everyone else can? She is allowed to enjoy her life too, not just be burdened by the things that are happening to her race. How can you expect her to live her life blocked off.

  • SheSpeaks

    IDK why black people go on reality shows like this I can only remember 1 time seeing a lady win on survivor. No matter how they look people always find the dumbest reason to vote them off early.

  • LuveyKayDee

    I thought the same thing. I haven’t watched BB in a while, but when I seen this episode, I knew she would be voted off first. Darn shame. I also agree that CBS and other major networks could do a better job casting AA and other minories in reality shows…well, all shows period.

  • Megan Common

    If there were more black people on the show I feel she wouldn’t have been booted off. They only have like 1 or 2 at the most, black people per season but I won’t deny that it doesn’t shock me how the black girl got booted off first.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=629808820 Beverly Rhett

    As I watched the first episode, I made a mental prediction that she would be the last one chosen to be on a team. Guess what? She was! Julie Chen had to assign her to a team as she stood alone looking dejected. Her spouse is caucasian, so perhaps she was operating on the assumption that everyone would be accepting of her and “color blind.” Having said that, I have mixed feelings about her assertion that race and age played a part in her elimination though. She didn’t play the physical challenge that well, and seemed a bit too eager to “fit in”. Everyone on this show seems to be trying too hard to fit some stereotype cast member; she was the “token” black person; though not an “angry” type, therefore expendable.

  • drebaby

    I have to give it Jodi for applying for the show even though she had three factors, age, race and physical limits not in her favor. After all she had a better chance of staying on the show for 3-4 of weeks and getting the weekly stipend than those brothers that get on ABC’s “The Bachelorette” and are gone after the first week…. Still CBS and BB need to show more diversity with at least 3-4 minorities each season. (Black, Hispanic, Asian)

  • Elaine

    I think this show plays into racial stereotypes when it comes to the black contestants. The black men are always either gay, or come off as promiscuous/players or the black women have bad attitudes and are waaaay out of shape, unlike the majority of the white contestants which have great bodies. You mean there is not one nice looking black women with a banging body and good attitude that has ever auditioned for this show? And they always more than likely get rid of the black person first, it’s like, first thing first, let’s get rid of the negro, then we can start playing this game. The realization is most of these contestants come from small towns and are not comfortable around blacks. Only Marcellus and Danielle got far on this show. I think they people that were on with them were more urban, and I think Dani was married to a white guy in real life.

    • http://twitter.com/Moni1927 Tierra

      I completely agree. Every black women that is casted on this show is either the “mom type” or has a bad attitude. I can’t believe that whoever casts this show can’t find a young, college age, athletic, black girl. When it comes to the white characters, they have all shapes, ages, and sexual orientations. But when it comes to the black contestants, there are only three types: the gay black guy, the player black guy, and the old black women with the rolling of the neck attitude.

  • http://twitter.com/brandnewdaydesi brandnewdaydesigns

    I think it had more to do about her shape than race. ALTHOUGH…CBS could do a better job of casting more people of color on the show. Only one black person? That’s why the odds are so low of a person of color winning (mixed with underlying racism and sexism)

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/QCKONPLHGDQ3YWAWPAJ7JUIGUI NONE

    I think it was mostly due to her appearing more out of shape than the other cast members, although we have all learned by now that appearance has little to do with physical ability. I did however, find it interesting when the other woman up for elimitation accused her of being a problem starter before she even said a word. To me there was no other reason for that comment but stereotypes based on race.

    • Jay

      It’s crazy that they would go off of her appearance.Doesn’t she run marathons or something? Oh,and the shade that the nurse chick was throwing.The whole she ”felt like she would cause drama or problems or trouble” thing. So unnecessary…

  • http://twitter.com/SlopDuJour Robin Pickles

    I think she looks an awful lot like Kalia from last years show. She was not well liked, and was very annoying while in the house. She even happily shaved her privates on showtime, and it was not well received by ANYONE! I really don’t think race had anything to do with it. They were in the house for more than 1 day as well.. first impressions can have something to do with personality as well as appearances.

  • The Mrs.

    It wasn’t her age or race..it was because she looked the most physically out of shape. I know during her opening segment, she talked about the marathons and other physical feats but none of that came out during the challenge. My hubby agreed that contestants should have been eliminated after doing a physical and mental challenge and not just the physical.

  • it is what it is

    I thought this also, the other woman that was asked who should be eliminated said the black lady because she ”felt like she would cause drama or problems or trouble”. I think she was the southern lady who is a nurse, but lied saying she is a preschool teacher….

    • realadulttalk

      Me too!! I was very annoyed…”she looks like she would cause drama” came across to me as she’s black. I felt it was a very racist move. Exactly why I’d rather watch the UK version–they have more than one black person from jump. Sickening that they could only find one black face and then got rid of her before the show actually started.