Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter in response to both Monday's article and editorial about the Miss Unity Pageant. As soon as I saw the paper in the morning, I read the headline and knew there was going to be controversy over it.-á
I feel the results of the pageant were not properly portrayed.-á
This is my second year being involved in this pageant. Last year, I was a contestant, and this year I was the contestant liaison.-áI am also the secretary of the Black Student Association.-á
I wanted everyone to be aware that this has not been a "black" pageant for quite a few years now: This pageant has been open to people of all races and backgrounds.-áBSA does sponsor this pageant, but we have also worked to get a diversity of people to join. However, we cannot force people to join something if they do not want to participate in it.-á
I also wanted to speak on behalf of Amanda Ostoich. Yes, she did win the title of Miss Unity 2006, but why does it have to be because she is white?-áOstoich did happen to be the only Caucasian woman in the pageant, but she is also very talented.-áAlthough it is a unity pageant, the winner of the pageant has nothing to do with her race.-áOstoich won because she deserved to win.-áShe did not win because we were trying to "make history."-áThe person who wins this pageant receives the duties of trying to unify the campus. As far as I know, someone can work to unify the campus no matter what color she is.-á
Yes, we would like more people of different races to participate in this pageant, but not because the winner needs to be of another race than African American.-áWe want others to participate to help bridge the gap between races.-áWe cannot bridge that gap until people work to understand and embrace other races. That will only be done when they work together as one - that is the purpose of the pageant.
In my opinion, Unity Week was a success not because a Caucasian woman won the pageant, but because people from different backgrounds came together.-áDuring the events throughout the week, I looked around and saw diversity.-áThat alone makes it successful.-á
We might not have solved every problem involving discrimination and racism, but we have gotten one step closer to respecting one another.-áThe Unity Committee as well as the different organizations involved worked hard - together - to make last week possible. Although the editorial board might not feel like it was as fulfilling as it should have been, we did what we could to promote unity around campus.-á
Maybe next year more people will be willing to lend their hands in helping instead of criticizing.-á
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