First non-black Miss Hampton U says sorry (msnbc)
Apologizes for saying people disapproved her win because of her skin color
HAMPTON, Va. – The first non-black winner of the annual beauty pageant at historically black Hampton University says she’s sorry for writing a letter to President Barack Obama contending her crowning was not “widely accepted” on campus because she is not black.
Nikole Churchill, 22, a senior nursing major from Hawaii who attends the Virginia Beach campus, won the 15th annual Miss Hampton U scholarship pageant on Friday. She beat out nine black students.
Two days after her crowning, she wrote a letter to Obama, describing the crowning as “the best night of my life.”
But she added: “With that being said, I am sad to say that my crowning was not widely accepted and many negative comments regarding my win have been shared throughout my campus.
“It would be much easier to say that possibly some were not accepting of the news because I wasn’t the most qualified contestant; however, the true reason for the disapproval was because of the color of my skin. I am not African American. “
[...]
Journalism sophomore Juan Diasgranados told the Daily Press that students were split on Churchill’s crowning, with some saying her win embodies HU’s spirit of diversity and others complaining that she’s not black and doesn’t attend the main campus.
“They’re saying that people don’t know who she is, people don’t even see her, so how can she represent us if she’s not even from the main campus?” Diasgranados told the newspaper.(more…)
There are a couple of ways of looking at this.
On one hand it appears that this girl is being hammered by the University for simply speaking the truth regarding the mixed reaction she received for wining the crown. The truth is that you have some Black folks who are going to have a problem with it, period (even the one student the article quotes confirms this). This bad PR is certainly not good for a school that prides itself in diversity.
On the other hand, this girl (who is now the face of the campus) chose to write a letter to President Obama and post it on a website basically calling out her school for being hypocritical when it comes to race. Like it or not, she has to follow their rules when it comes to issuing out any form of communications regarding her school.
The other thing: Sista girl did get crown. So why focus on a few haters?
Whoops! One more thing: Did she really believe that Obama would come to her school and give yet another fireside chat on race?
What Happens When You Tell The Truth
by Duane on October 15th, 2009 at 1:07 amThere are a couple of ways of looking at this.
On one hand it appears that this girl is being hammered by the University for simply speaking the truth regarding the mixed reaction she received for wining the crown. The truth is that you have some Black folks who are going to have a problem with it, period (even the one student the article quotes confirms this). This bad PR is certainly not good for a school that prides itself in diversity.
On the other hand, this girl (who is now the face of the campus) chose to write a letter to President Obama and post it on a website basically calling out her school for being hypocritical when it comes to race. Like it or not, she has to follow their rules when it comes to issuing out any form of communications regarding her school.
The other thing: Sista girl did get crown. So why focus on a few haters?
Whoops! One more thing: Did she really believe that Obama would come to her school and give yet another fireside chat on race?