Miss America: Immigrant Beauty Pageants in the United States

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES "u2013 JANUARY 27, 2017: Miss Asia USA 2016, Juri Watanabe poses for a portrait in Palos Verdes Estates, California on January 27, 2017. In the 1922 case Takao Ozawa v. United States the decision stated that, "The appellant, in the case now under consideration, however, is clearly of a race which is not Caucasian and therefore belongs entirely outside the zone on the negative side"u2026 Of course, there is not implied "u2013 either in the legislation or in our interpretation of it "u2013 any suggestion of an individual unworthiness or racial inferiority." When citizenship was first defined by Congress in 1790, they restricted naturalization to "white persons". Though specific previsions of the law shifted over time, until the Immigration and Naturalization act of 1952, individuals had to prove their whiteness to be naturalized. During this time, there were 52 court cases in which people from immigrant communities sued the US government to be considered white. These women, the winners of beauty contests that celebrate both their American identity and culture of origin, come from different immigrant communities. Some, like Miss Arab USA, Miss Korea USA and Miss Asia USA, come from communities that were represented in these lawsuits. The women from African communities would not have been citizens until the 14th amendment to the Constitution in adopted in 1868. Others, like Miss Texas Czech Slovak and Miss West Texas, come from communities that faced massive prejudice when they first immigrated. (Photo by Benjamin Rasmussen/Getty Images)
PALOS VERDES ESTATES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES "u2013 JANUARY 27, 2017: Miss Asia USA 2016, Juri Watanabe poses for a portrait in Palos Verdes Estates, California on January 27, 2017. In the 1922 case Takao Ozawa v. United States the decision stated that, "The appellant, in the case now under consideration, however, is clearly of a race which is not Caucasian and therefore belongs entirely outside the zone on the negative side"u2026 Of course, there is not implied "u2013 either in the legislation or in our interpretation of it "u2013 any suggestion of an individual unworthiness or racial inferiority." When citizenship was first defined by Congress in 1790, they restricted naturalization to "white persons". Though specific previsions of the law shifted over time, until the Immigration and Naturalization act of 1952, individuals had to prove their whiteness to be naturalized. During this time, there were 52 court cases in which people from immigrant communities sued the US government to be considered white. These women, the winners of beauty contests that celebrate both their American identity and culture of origin, come from different immigrant communities. Some, like Miss Arab USA, Miss Korea USA and Miss Asia USA, come from communities that were represented in these lawsuits. The women from African communities would not have been citizens until the 14th amendment to the Constitution in adopted in 1868. Others, like Miss Texas Czech Slovak and Miss West Texas, come from communities that faced massive prejudice when they first immigrated. (Photo by Benjamin Rasmussen/Getty Images)
Miss America: Immigrant Beauty Pageants in the United States
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Credit:
Benjamin Rasmussen / Contributor
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Reportage Archive
Date created:
January 27, 2017
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