Hypocrisy on Concerns About Non-Black Hampton Queen

Having never attended a historically black college or university (HBCU) I can’t quite speak to the uneasiness of having a non-black Miss Hampton.

But I have seen the other side of this coin: an “all-white” high school and then university crown an African American homecoming king. And this was in the mid-90s. The crowning of an African American homecoming king in college was juxtaposed with a white woman successfully pledging an African American sorority.

David A. Love opines in The Grio that insisting Miss Hampton be black is hypocrisy at best.

The crowning of Nikole Churchill as the first non-black Miss Hampton University has caused a ruckus at the historically-black institution, and throughout the African-American community. As a student at Hampton, Churchill, 22, was certainly eligible to compete and ultimately win the award. Any objections to her crowning that are based on her skin color are nothing less than hypocritical.

Some would suggest it’s discrimination, especially those clinging to the “tradition” argument. It sounds eerily similar to arguments against integration.

Are African Americans culpable as well for not transcending race?

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