Miss America, Miss Teen USA, And Miss USA Are All Black Women

America’s Top Pageants Is Breaking Barriers

America’s top pageants are slowly breaking barriers over the years, but this year was probably the icing on the cake.

Vanessa Williams became the first black woman to win the Miss America title in 1984 while Carole Gist won Miss USA in 1990. In 1991 Janel Bishop won Miss Teen USA.

Last week for the first time, three black women wore the crown of the three major US pageants simultaneously. Kaliegh Garris, 18, was crowned Miss Teen USA and Chelsie Kryst, 28, was crowned Miss USA. Nia Franklin was named Miss America 2019 back in September.

“It is important to little brown and black girls to see three strong figures, three strong women, African-American women that are doing so much great work,” Ms. Franklin said in a statement on Saturday. “People will argue that race doesn’t matter. But race does matter in America, because of the history, because of slavery.”

America’s pageants have come a long way since women of color were barred from them decades before. But as the years have gone by, there have been a number of milestones that led up to this current point. The first black contestant for Miss America was Miss Iowa, Cheryl Browne, in 1970.

By: Maytinee Kramer