Vanessa Williams Reflects On Facing Backlash For Being Crowned ‘Miss America’ 40 Years Ago: ‘So Many Things I Took Personally’
Vanessa Williams has plenty of advice she’d give her younger self, knowing how far she’s come since being crowned Miss America back in 1984.Williams gained recognition after becoming the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title 40 years ago, with her reflecting on the honour while chatting to Et Canada’s Carlos Bustamante.Williams shared of what she’d tell her younger self, who was 20 at the time, to prepare her for what was to come: “I had no idea I would become internationally famous overnight, for sure.
I didn’t realize the scope of responsibility that I would have at 20 years old.
And I would tell myself not to take everything personally.“When you’re 20 years old and you’re just being yourself and people say, ‘Well, we hate you because you’re black, we hate you because you’re not black enough, we hate you because you’re not Southern.
