What Do the Miss USA Pageant and Trump's Immigration Orders Have in Common?

A week ago Sunday night, two different contests were underway. In California, lawyers for the state of Hawaii prepared to argue in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit against President Donald Trump's executive order banning nationals from six Middle Eastern countries from entering the country. In Las Vegas, five immigrant women were vying for the title of Miss USA.On the surface, beauty pageants might appear to have little in common with immigration policy. But pageants are actually a vehicle for reflecting and defining what it looks like to be American, and their demographics over time can help explain what the executive order is really about.Beauty pageants typically bring to mind frivolous women, regressive notions of femininity, and controversial, often insipid answers to interview questions. That's not entirely off base. But in the U.S., their history is also inherently political and, more specifically, racial.  Continue reading...