I heard about this briefly last night and decided I wanted to ask y'all about this.A young woman, Nikole Churchill was just crown Miss Hampton University. That's Hampton U the HBCU in VA. Sounds cool right? Well Ms. Churchill isn't black she's mixed. 1/2 Italian (moms side) 1/2 Guam (Dads side). Now apparently there are students upset that she doesn't and can't represent the school properly because she's not black. The 22 yr old nursing major wrote a letter to President Obama a fellow Hawaiian expressing her feeling of how much progress this represents. I didn't go to a HBCU so I only hear stuff. I guess I can see both sides of this dispute. But also, hearing that she's from Guam reminds me of one of my dearest friends, Mz.J that represents for black folk at times BETTER then some black folk represent themselves.
Below is Nikole's letter.
To:
President Barack Obama
October 11, 2009
Aloha Mr. Obama!
My name is Nikole Churchill, a senior nursing major at Hampton University. This past Friday October 9, 2009, I was honored to be crowned Miss Hampton University 2009-2010. It truly was the best night of my life! 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. Despite the unfortunate beliefs that some are saying I should not have won, I am desperately trying to focus on those who believe in me and support me and my goal to represent this beautiful, multicultural campus the very best way that I can. I would love your help!
I am hoping that perhaps you would be able to make an appearance to my campus, Hampton University, so that my fellow Hamptonians can stop focusing so much on the color of my skin and doubting my abilities to represent, but rather be proud of the changes our nation is making towards accepting diversity. People are even nicknaming me, “lil Obama” because of various reasons. This is truly an honor as well!
I am also from Hawaii (Wahiawa) and I am hoping that you can assist me in opening some closed minds and help share some aloha spirit throughout my campus. I feel as though you could relate to my situation, which is why I immediately wanted to contact you. I was interviewed last night at the HU vs. HU football game by news channel 13 and I mentioned how individuals such as you and myself are making changes in hopes people can stop placing so much focus on our skin color by letting that define what we can, cannot, should, and/or should not do. Dr. Harvey welcomed me last night to the family with open arms and I was beyond honored when he told me that he is behind me 100%. I am proud to represent Hampton University and I am so proud having you to represent our home, our country. Your support with my crowning as Miss Hampton University 2009-2010 would be graciously appreciated. Please reply, I will be looking forward to it!
-Nikole Churchill
Virginia Beach , VA
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Progress or Poor Choice???
Posted by NightFall914 at 10:09 AM
Labels: interesting, My People, Race relations, Society, THOUGHTS
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
She got the crown all I can advise her to do is STEP PON DEM...and continue on. I dont know if I'd write a letter to the pres, if I'm awarded something like Miss Hampton University I dont need extra verification from anybody because I won the fucking crown, to me it shows that she doubts herself and her achievement.
The bi-racial being black debate is getting stale quick.
Chick On The Right Looks Pissed!
@ Goddess
I'm not sure if she doubts herself as much as it's the negative commentary from the other students making her uncomfortable. I've found out that the winner wasn't voted on by the student body but by a small panel so I guess the students feel "misrepresented"
if she earned the crown, she earned the crown. i'm so tired of blacks wanting to speak up about all the WRONG issues. instead of worrying about her winning a f*cking tiara, how about we focus on some REAL problems? we have cops shooting innnocent black men on a regular basis, boys getting beaten to death in chicago, blacks serving disproportionate sentences [compared to whites] in prison, and colored children receiving subpar educations...but yeah, let's focus on a non-black winning a crown.
If we want to have opportunities to win contests when we are in the minority then we should also be accepting of others who are the minority in our contests.
Congrats to Miss Hampton.
ughhh. moving on.. I just can`t on this one. when we have universal healthcare, I will come back and give this all attention. I promise.
LOL @ Evie. Oooooook
I say whatever. She couldn't have won if the students didn't vote for her, so obviously, the students had no problems with it (the other people should have voted).
I went to a HBCU (Spelman), and I can understand why people are against it (that's a different post)...however, the voting is democratic, so what's to complain about???
On another note, I read some comments on another blog, and this one made me laugh:
"Maybe it was because she was the only one with all the hair on her head grown from her own scalp. Men are tired of the weaves, wigs, extension etc..."
Post a Comment