Jakiyah McKoy (pictured), a 7-year-old who was crowned Little Miss Hispanic Delaware last month, has been stripped of her title, amid outbursts that she is not Hispanic enough.
McKoy’s grandmother was born in the Dominican Republic, which is reportedly where her Latin heritage came from. However, a pageant official said her roots were never proved.
Maria Perez, president of Nuestras Raices Delaware, an organization that sponsors the beauty pageant, told Latino Rebels McKoy’s family was asked to provide documents proving she had Latin ancestry.
“She joined the pageant and of course one of the things is you have to be of 25 percent Latino heritage,” Perez said. “Her parents were asked to bring in documentation. Of all of the documentation brought in there was nothing that confirmed Dominican heritage.”
Perez, who is Brooklyn-born, strongly denied allegations the decision was racially motivated, saying that “color has nothing to do with it. We’re all Latinos. That’s why we’re so beautiful because we come in all different colors.”
That didn’t seem to fly with some Twitter folk who chimed in, though, and an account from Feministing, a feminist blog, says the pageant is biased against Hispanics of African descent:
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There was uproar when the winner was announced because, according to the public, she was not the best representative of a Latin beauty.
McKoy’s grandmother was born in the Dominican Republic, which is reportedly where her Latin heritage came from. However, a pageant official said her roots were never proved.
Maria Perez, president of Nuestras Raices Delaware, an organization that sponsors the beauty pageant, told Latino Rebels McKoy’s family was asked to provide documents proving she had Latin ancestry.
“She joined the pageant and of course one of the things is you have to be of 25 percent Latino heritage,” Perez said. “Her parents were asked to bring in documentation. Of all of the documentation brought in there was nothing that confirmed Dominican heritage.”
Perez, who is Brooklyn-born, strongly denied allegations the decision was racially motivated, saying that “color has nothing to do with it. We’re all Latinos. That’s why we’re so beautiful because we come in all different colors.”
That didn’t seem to fly with some Twitter folk who chimed in, though, and an account from Feministing, a feminist blog, says the pageant is biased against Hispanics of African descent:
Read More
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