DeMario Jackson -- who crossed interracial dating lines in 'Bachelor' nation -- says the franchise's first black leading man is gonna get blasted for his final rose pick ... there's just no way around it.
Matt James has a tough road ahead of him, including chock-full of scrutiny about the women with whom he connects on the show ... according to DeMario. His take is if Matt chooses anyone but a dark-skinned black girl, he'll draw unwarranted outrage from blacks and whites.
DeMario uses his own experience on Rachel Lindsay's historic season of 'Bachelorette' as well as 'BiP' -- where he hooked up with Corinne Olympios -- to back up his argument.
Be it racist white dudes in his DMs telling him to stay away from "their" women, or black people encouraging him to exclusively date his own race -- DeMario says everyone will have something to say to Matt throughout his season.
In his opinion, America ain't ready to see the first black 'Bachelor' pick a white woman ... IF it plays out that way.
DeMario's already banking on a scenario like that. Fortunately, he's got some advice for MJ on tuning out all the chatter, regardless of who he falls in love with on the show.
Again, IF he does at all.