Pageant News Bureau - Race and Pageantry

Shortly after Shauntay Hinton of the District of Columbia was crowned Miss USA 2002, angry e-mails began pouring in to PNB's offices. Some people thought they were addressing the pageant's organizers, while others simply wanted to sound off to an independent forum. Almost exclusively, they were upset that so many African-Americans had reached the Top 5.

No one who made this complaint used racial slurs or expressed hostility toward any group. But all of them said that since blacks constitute roughly 12 percent of the American population -- and about the same percentage of Miss USA delegates -- the finalists should not have been 80 percent African-American. Why not more whites, Asians and Hispanics?

Some readers made reference to the pageant's current venue, Gary, Ind., which has a mostly African-American population and in the 1960s became the first major U.S. city to elect a black mayor.

Everyone agrees she's a winner. So what's the problem?

We can't document the ethnicity of anyone in the pageant. But based on appearance, we will accept the assertion that the final five consisted of four black women and one white woman.

In the minds of many, this sort of statistical anomaly is evidence of bias. We can't disprove that, or dissuade anyone from believing it. And we were simply inclined to let the issue drop. But after reading so many declarations by embittered fans who say they will never watch Miss USA again, we had to speak up.

Please, everyone, put this in perspective! If there were four redheads and one brunette in the Top 5, would you be feeling the same anguish and suspicion? One pageant does not make a pattern of prejudice.

We are not saying there was no bias in the judging of this pageant. That is a possibility in every contest. We are not denying the reality of racial prejudice, and we know that it can target any person or group. But outrage over the statistics in this one contest is an overreaction.

Almost all the critics of the pageant said Ms. Hinton, who is African-American, deserved her crown. In fact, no one suggested that any member of the Top 5 did not belong there. That seems to us to be the point. If you're satisfied with the final result, statistics mean nothing.

And we couldn't help noticing (judging from appearances) that the current mayor of Gary is white. How's that for an anomaly?

Alita Dawson in the colors of her country.

So forget the percentages. Next year they may be totally different. And if you get the opportunity to see Ms. Hinton, tell her she's your queen. She deserves that.

Return to PNB's coverage of Miss USA 2002

A taboo subject(but here goes)

A taboo subject
(but here goes)