Arab American Contestants in Miss U.S.A. Pageant 2016

posted on: Jun 7, 2016

BY: Kristina Perry/Contributing Writer

A new Miss U.S.A. was crowned Sunday night, and this year’s crown went to Army Reserve officer Deshauna Barber, representing the District of Columbia. She is the first army officer to win the crown, and was a fan favorite from the start of the competition. The winner of Miss U.S.A. goes on to represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant later in the year, and serves as a global ambassador to charitable agencies working to achieve humanitarian goals. But this year’s Miss U.S.A. pageant also witnessed two Arab American contestants who also became fan favorites.

Nadia Mejia, Miss California, is the daughter of a former Miss U.S.A. contestant and rapper/singer Rico Suave. She is of Lebanese and Ecuadorian descent. Nadia is a full-time professional model, and has represented brands such as ASOS, Ulta, and Nordstrom. An advocate for self-love and body acceptance, Nadia campaigns for the National Eating Disorder Association and is a survivor of anorexia herself.

Nadia stumbled during the question and answer portion of the competition, where she hesitantly responded to a question about income inequality in the question. In her response, Nadia said, “I think that the rich need to be able to be giving, and I think the poor need to work hard, and I think the middle class need to come together and find an in-between.” Despite facing tough criticism and a trending hashtag of #misscalifornia mocking her response to the question, Nadia posted a picture of herself looking uncomfortable while answering on Instagram, and was able to laugh it off. The pageant queen recovered well and advanced to the top five.

Zena Malak, Miss Illinois, is a first generation American and dreamed of being Miss America since she was 11 years old, after seeing her cousin compete to represent Illinois in the Miss Teen U.S.A. pageant. Zena has a degree in Business Management from DePaul University in Illinois, and plans to pursue her Masters in Business to become an entrepreneur and role model to young girls.

Passionate about animals, Zena jokingly calls herself a cat lady, and has “adopted” an elephant through a conservation and protection agency. She is three-quarters Lebanese and one-quarter Egyptian. She has visited Lebanon enough to be fluent in Arabic, but wishes to visit her family in Egypt, as well.

Although these ladies did not win the crown, being on the stage makes them winners in the Arab American community. With so many negative or false images of Arab Americans circulating in the media, it is refreshing to see the community represented in a variety of ways that show inclusion and tolerance, rather than fear and hate.