Dark Skinned Miss Algeria 2019, Khadija Benhamou, Stands up to Racist Social Media Trolls

Racism has caused so much harm on the African continent.

One would have thought that time, technology, and civilization have slowly washed away the seeds of racism especially in Africa and from Africans towards each other; but sadly, that is not the case.

This is a cause for concern especially as African unity has been identified as a major pillar for sustainable peace and progress on the continent.

Algeria for the first time has a dark-skinned beauty queen, and while this should be a cause for celebration, many have taken to social media platforms with racial comments on the organizers and the queen, saying a ‘dark-skinned’ individual cannot represent a country like Algeria whose majority are light skinned.

From the moment her name was announced as Miss Algeria 2019, Khadija Benhamou has had to deal with unimaginable harassment from social media trolls.

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It is not news that there is a high level of racial discrimination against dark-skinned citizens in Algeria. Although this is well documented, very little has been done to remedy the situation.

Despite the negativity, Khadija has held her shoulders up high and told local media that will "not back down" despite the racial attacks.

Trolls on Facebook and Twitter have gone as far as criticizing her color, heritage, the shape of her nose and lips - using unprintable names and comments to describe her.

Popular international beauty and lifestyle magazine, Vogue ME in a statement had said that the ‘shocking comments show how little understanding Algerians have of their own cultural and ethnic diversity.’

The organizers of the Miss Algeria Pageant have also released a statement saying:

Hello everyone,

The organization of MISS ALGERIA deplores the behavior and racist comments of several people following publications of degrading and retouched photos.We give you two pictures of our pretty MISS ALGERIA 2019 while waiting others who will follow soon.