In Defense Of The Mondrichs’ Black Love

It’s in that discovery where Bridgerton season 3 starts to get at some of the hierarchy and respectability politics that have existed since season 1, but that they have never truly explored. The most Bridgerton has talked about race (not including in its prequel series, Queen Charlotte) was in season 1 when Simon and Lady Danbury discuss why they’re the only Black royals. Lady Danbury says, “Look at our Queen, look at our King. Look at their marriage, look at everything it is doing for us, what it is allowing us to become. We were two separate societies, divided by color until a king fell in love with one of us.” We watched how those separate societies merged in Queen Charlotte but in Bridgerton, now that they are fully integrated, race seems to no longer be a factor in this utopian society, but class still is. And the conversation between Simon and Lady Danbury set the tone for how we view Black folks in the London elite; they see their social standings and titles as things being done for them and that the Queen’s presence has allowed them to be there. Basically, they better act right before it all gets taken away. I don’t love this positioning — we know all too well the burden of Black excellence — but it does feel real within the Bridgerton world (and echoes the real-life scarcity mindset of so many successful Black people in today’s capitalist society). And now that the Mondrichs have moved on up, there is a bit of an adjustment period. Immediately, Alice is wary of their newfound wealth.