[K-Smith26916]

Why is it OK to have Miss Black America pageants or NAACP awards? It would not be acceptable to have a Miss White America pageant or The White Pride awards, would it?

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Name : K-Smith26916, City : Ft. Wayne, State : IN Country : United States, 

[Amanda31511]

There is a need for Miss Black America pageants or NAACP awards because blacks have been historically excluded from and are still marginalized in mainstream events. In other words, there already WAS a Miss White America pageant, it just wasn't called such. And there are 'white pride' awards: The nobel prizes, pulitzer prizes,caldocott book wards, American globe awards,etc. Blacks were totally excluded from these honors and still today are woefully underrepresented by them

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Name : Amanda31511, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 20, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Dan31660]

Back in the days of segregation, black people were entirely barred from things such as the Miss America Pageant. For all intents and purposes, the Miss America Pageant of that day was indeed an instrument of white dominance. This extended into everything imagineable. To counter this, African Americans began many of their own such institutions. That's why black universities such as Howard were started, because they weren't at all allowed into any of the regular schools. The reason these institutions continue today is because there is still a great disparity. Watch the Miss USA pageant and the contestants are overwhelmingly white, which does not reflect the overall demographics of this country. The only woman of color to ever win was Vanessa Williams, and she ended up getting it revoked over dubious reasons. This problem can be summed up in two sentences: For instance, the Latino population makes up 12% or so of America, yet Latinos don't make up 12% of all movie stars, judges, politicians, lawyers, doctors, police officers, civil servants, etc. etc. etc. Until we achieve entirely equal (or more) representation in every field imaginable, we require our institutions to act as our voice.

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Name : Dan31660, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Pentecostal Christian, Age : 21, City : L.A. area, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Mel W.]

Who says there aren't White Pride and White Miss America Awards? For years, that's exactly what The Miss America Paegant and others like it were. Competitions of that kind were founded at a time when segregation was the norm and competition and judging were a reflection of only mainstream white culture and its accompanying standards of excellence. Originally in order to be able to compete in pageants and competitions of excellence, Black americans have come up with our own variations, which are still in effect as a way to celebrate our own culture, along with its accompanying standards of beauty, accomplishment, etc. since they are still not being recognized in popular media except under the labels 'exotic', 'urban', and the like. I'm going to end this post with another question: Are there paegants and awards for other non-white ethnic groups? Are they held for the same reasons?

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Name : Mel W., Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : Gunnison, State : CO Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[D. Rashid]

Have you ever been in a room of people and tried to share in conversation and noone acknowledged you or responded to your comment? Well, that is how it is in America for Blacks. You may be too young to remember the saying, 'Say it loud,I'm Black and I'm proud!' or 'Black is beautiful'. For too many years, Blacks were not even allowed in American Beauty pageants. The integrity of a beauty contestant was not even questioned until a Black won. Blacks need to be recognized with their own identity (not like tanned caucasians).

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Name : D. Rashid, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : African-Native American, Religion : Christian, City : Fairfax, State : VA Country : United States, Occupation : Information Specialist, 

[John A.]

The reason for these Black organizations is simple, whites outnumber blacks. So, any contest that a black person enters is automatically biased, statistically. Black award shows allows it's contestants to have a fair chance at winning solely based on talent.

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Name : John A., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 29, City : Charlotte, State : NC Country : United States, Occupation : Office Asst., Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jason]

If you want to see a 'Miss White America pageant', just tune in to the Miss America pageant. I think it is safe for me to say a very great majority of the women represented are white. Conversely, there will be very few black women or other women of color...and that's exactly why it's cool for the Miss Black America pageant to exist. 'Black pride' is a vehicle for black people to celebrate their accomplishments, beauty, culture and whatever else, in a society that grossly underrepresents, misrepresents, or ignores them. 'White pride', on the other hand, in my opinion, is unnecessary in present day America. Whites aren't underrepresented or ignored.

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Name : Jason, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Age : 23, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[alex]

Yea thats everyother pagent.

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Name : alex, Gender : F, Race : *poweRpuFF greeN*, Age : 19, City : houston, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : *maDsCienTist*, 

[Amber31535]

What do you call NBC, ABC, CBS....Black stations? Name 3 all-black shows on either of these networks. Now name the white shows.... Get the point?

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Name : Amber31535, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 22, City : Norfolk, State : VA Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Exton]

If you're working towards a colorblind society, then you're right in feeling that Black Pageants and the NAACP are negative influences. However, those of African-American descent, while no longer being oppressed, still feel concerned about being oppressed, and/or preserving their heritage, and so have institutions dedicated to these purposes. The rest of the civilization does not complain because they recognize that the black community was treated very badly for a very long time, and so feel it is acceptable that their freedom be expressed in this way. On the other hand, it would not be unacceptable to have white-only institutions, if you consider nothing else. However, white-only institutions bring to mind things like slavery and segregation, and so many people respon negatively to them.

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Name : Exton, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : nontheist, Age : 18, City : Medway, State : MA Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

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