New Miss Algeria 2019 targeted by racist trolls

She beat 16 other women to be crowned Miss Algeria, but Khadija Ben Hamou’s win has been subjected to a torrent of racist abuse, reports The National.

Khadija made history when she became the first black woman to take the crown at the annual beauty pageant on Saturday (January 5), but her win has since been tainted by people who took to social media to dispute the judges’ choice, largely down to the colour of her skin.

READ: Algerians slammed for ‘racist’ abuse of sub-Saharan migrants

Trolls flooded Facebook and Twitter to comment on her appearance, including her hair, weight and features. When other social media users began to call out those spouting racist abuse, some Twitter users maintained it had nothing to do with race. “She just wasn’t that pretty”, one person wrote.

https://twitter.com/bylka613_/status/1081597660124102656

However, plenty of users were quick to praise the diversity of this year’s competition and jump to Khadija’s defense, congratulating her.

Writing on Facebook, one user said: “If I understand correctly, you want a miss Algeria that looks like a Swedish!? It’s one of the charms of our diversity, a Saharan charm, I’m glad to finally see a miss who comes from the south Algerian.”

Or on this Tweet, this user is simply saying that Algeria does not deserve such a beauty!

https://twitter.com/ChamsousSabbah/status/1081906646681554945

Another said: “Y’all can’t be making fun of her nose, hair and skin complexion and say it’s not racist.”

Khadija, who comes from the Adrar in the south of the country, took part in 20 rounds of the competition before being crowned Miss Algeria 2019.

Following her win, she will go on to represent the country on a global scale at Miss World and will take part in charity work alongside the organisation.