Hampton's First Non-Black Homecoming Queen Causes Stir

Last Friday, Nikole Churchill became Hampton University's first non-black homecoming queen and the second non-black homecoming queen of any historically black college or university. Her crowning, by five judges, has caused controversy, as students and alumni debate whether Churchill deserves the distinction.

The 22-year-old Churchill is Hawaiian, with an Italian mother and a father from Guam. According to WTKR, she was chosen out of 10 applicants in the competition and reportedly built her win on the platform of mentoring girls ages 11–14 on topics including "self-esteem, body image, teenage pregnancies and nutrition."

No matter how strong her presentation, though, many are questioning what it means for a non-black woman to win at an HBCU. One Black Voices poster said:

Well, Hampton always liked damn near white chicks, guess they just said, "F it this time," and went all the way. I say this as a Hampton U hater.

Another said:

While I can't make a judgment on how Hampton runs things, wasn't this also the school that told its business students they couldn't have natural hair styles?

Yet another added:

If you have ever attended a majority White school, you would know that they would rather cut off their hand then[sic] to vote for a black young woman. The truth of the matter is that White folk look out for their own.

There are those, though, who do feel that Churchill's win signals a progressive win for the campus. Executive Pageant Director Sheila Maye said:

We have all kinds of people on our campus, we are not in a cocoon. As far as I'm concerned, we need to get her ready to serve HU and to move on and represent us at Miss Virginia.

Arthur A. Turner, a 1982 Howard University graduate and Maryland resident, said:

We now have to move forward in our thinking because the world is different, America is different, and we have all been fighting for change. And as we continue that fight, we must be accepting of the things that we fight for.

Churchill, for her part, hasn't been passive in the controversy. As a matter of fact, she wrote a letter to President Barack Obama on Sunday, beseeching him to visit Hampton and shed light on the student body about why diversity is important:

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 toward accepting diversity.

Since then, Churchill has apologized for bringing the president in to the conversation.

While people may be quick to call those "Hampton haters" racist, I understand where they're coming from. I am hard pressed to find positive images of black people, let alone black women, celebrated in a consistent and reliable way. Just the other day, I was trying to find a television program for my children, where they can see their reflections, and had to wait for Cosby reruns on Nick at Nite.

Therefore, when you do hear about an HBCU's homecoming competition, you kind of expect that at least in that arena black people will have representation among the winners.

With the resounding victory of President Obama, many of us have been crying for change. Still, how can we walk in to this "new era" without being influenced by our past -- and certain aspects of our present -- invisibility? Can we be honest about the inequality that we know and embrace the equality that we wish for? Or is there a double-standard, where black people are expected to be gracious and affirming about embracing other races in predominantly black spaces, but are not met with the same goodwill when we attempt to "infiltrate" predominantly white spaces.

What are your thoughts?