This Is America!
For the first time ever Miss America, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA are all black women.
This is a big deal for women of color considering ”only in the last 50 years have black women become more prevalent in these competitions”(CNN).
The first woman of color to win was Vanessa Williams for Miss America in 1983. 62 years for women of color to get the recognition they deserve.
Miss USA has received “three degrees from two universities, Kryst is a 28-year-old attorney with a mission to help reform America’s justice system”(CNN). She has a passion for helping prisoners who have been sentenced unjustly get reduced punishments free of charge.
Miss Teen USA has defied beauty norms. She rocked her natural curls stating “I feel more confident and comfortable with my natural hair” although she still gets criticism she ignores and went on to win Miss Teen USA.
Miss America says music her helped find herself. She now tries to inspire children in the same way. “I grew up at a predominately Caucasian school, and there was only 5% minority, and I felt out of place so much because of the color of my skin,” the 23-year-old North Carolina native said. “But growing up, I found my love of arts, and through music that helped me to feel positive about myself and about who I was.”(CNN)
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Samantha Vasseur is a senior at Dakota and has been part of The Dakota Planet for two years now. She's the newspaper's Managing Editor and enjoys taking...
