Contestant on The BachelorSydney Hightower is setting the record straight regarding her history with racism and bullying. When Hightower opened up about her past on a recent episode, former high school classmates accused her of making it all up for the cameras. In order to defend herself, Hightower got real about what she faced in her youth.

On a recent episode of The Bachelor, Hightower confided in Peter Weber about the racism and bullying she faced when she was growing up. The daughter of a Caucasian mother and African American/Dominican father, Hightower explained that she wasn't accepted by her peers.  She characterized middle school and high school as the "worst years of my life," stating that her classmates would call her names, vandalize her home, and bad-mouth her single mother mom. The hate she received kept her from attending school events and even forced her to eat lunch in a bathroom stall during her senior year. While her story shocked and angered Weber, internet trolls immediately tried to undermine her claims.

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After Monday's episode finished, a Twitter user shared photos from Hightower's high school yearbook that showed her winning a beauty pageant and being picked as one of the most beautiful people in her class (via ET). The user included plenty of laughing emojis alongside a caption that targeted Hightower's claim that she ate lunch in the bathroom throughout high school: "I'm selling my yearbooks for $200 a pop, who wants the tea." Hightower, however, didn't take too kindly to the flawed characterization of her experience and responded to the claims with her own tweet, seen below:

In a Twitter thread reacting to the yearbook photos, Hightower explained that she did win a beauty pageant and that she also participated in a variety of clubs and activities during her time in school. However, she asserted that her pageant win was a result of her physical beauty, not a sign of acceptance from her classmates. She participated in clubs because she wanted to get into college, not because she was popular. She explained that she never felt accepted by her peers, and that was the bullying and racism she was referring to. "Winning a pageant based off of outer beauty does not take away the racial bullying, and isolation I’ve been through," Hightower explained. She then went on to detail her school experiences, saying, "Any one from my highschool want to pull out the videos of girls stuffing my locker with Oreo cookies, vandalizing my home, shoving me in the hall ways? Teachers literally referring to me as a halfbreed?" Hightower then DM'd the original poster and put the screenshots on her account. Not only did she refute the claims that she lied about her experience, but she also went into even more detail about the racially-motivated bullying she faced. Hightower wrote to her former classmate, "But you will never know those struggles, and that's a blessing." 

As a franchise, The Bachelor is often criticized for its lack of diversity. Hightower's story is one of the first times the show has aired such an honest conversation about racism. Her bravery in opening up was well-accepted on many fronts, especially since it shows a different and important perspective that often gets lost in a sea of white contestants. However, the response Hightower received after sharing her story only proves that racism is alive and thriving, even in a day when equality and acceptance is so important. Her ability to respond with grace and honesty while still defending her experience is commendable, as is her continued effort to share her story and raise awareness of the hate that still exists in the world.

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The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8pm EST on ABC.

Source: ET, Sydney Hightower