Officials for a national beauty pageant organization are speaking out after being accused of removing contestant headshots from social media because of the outpouring of support for Black girls.
Thousands of Black Facebook users flooded the Black contestants’ photos with likes and reactions before the photos were wiped from the respective competition pages just days after they were posted on April 3, raising questions about the organization’s motive.
“We here for our own. The fact that some only have like 8 likes. Baby we are here to show up and show out. Representation matters. Rooting for our own matters. I freaking love us,” Sierra Karmo wrote in a Facebook group on April 5, the day all but the high school and college girls’ headshots were removed.
Some members who saw the posts later noticed the content was no longer available.
“I went to the page and can’t find the posts anymore,” wrote A’chynee Edmundson.
“I think they deleted that post. Not sure why,” Barbara Amoako responded.
“My guess is because of the disproportionate amount of likes the brown girls were getting over the others,” Edmundson said.
“I wonder why,” replied Mary Reed after seeing a disclaimer about a deleted post in another group.
“Don’t move the goal post because a black girl excels,” wrote Tiffany Monique.
“Oh, they closed it down because that math wasn’t mathing,” Gabby Guerin wrote.
While headshots for some of the other competitors had hundreds of likes and reactions, Black and darker-skinned contestants garnered thousands of likes before the photos were deleted. However, National Director Miss High School America Pageant Organization Amanda Patterson told Atlanta Black Star that it had nothing to do with race.
Patterson said she decided to remove the posts after several parents complained about “malicious” and “hurtful” comments targeting the contestants that are elementary, middle and high school…
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