Usually being a Miss Universe means championing the positive sides of life and condemning negativity such as racism and prejudice. Unfortunately, former Miss Universe Malaysia Samantha Katie James must have missed the memo on the latter.
“Strip Samantha Katie James of her Miss Universe Malaysia Crown and Title,” Marcus Gan and Yee Heng Zeh (Hzeh Yee) named their petition on Change.org, directed towards Miss Universe Malaysia Organization (MUMO), Elaine Daly, National Director of Miss Universe Malaysia, and Meg Omecene, Director of Communications, Miss Universe.
“Samantha Katie James was crowned Miss Universe Malaysia title in 2017. Yet she has failed to uphold her title as she prides on her own racist remarks and ignorance on her Instagram stories,” the petition stated.
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| Also displayed on the petition page is this quote of Samantha Katie James’ racist remarks. |
Telling black Americans to “relax”, she said that they should just accept their situation because they “chose” to be born as a coloured person in the country.
“It's inevitable. Best you can do is remain calm,” she added. “That's your responsibility."
Enraged by her tone-deaf comments, her followers pointed out her insensitivity, only to be replied with, “I don't understand why Malaysians are so super bothered by it? bro, we all ok only, until now, we doing just fine. Stop watching Netflix pls."
Maybe this Miss Universe needs to start streaming some documentaries.
RESPONSE TO SOCIAL MEDIA POST BY SAMANTHA KATIE JAMES, PAST WINNER OF MISS UNIVERSE MALAYSIA - MISS UNIVERSE MALAYSIA ORGANIZATION pic.twitter.com/pMwIb9FBCl— Miss Universe M'sia (@MissUniverseMY) June 1, 2020
MUMO has issued a statement regarding the 25-year-old’s racist remarks. While acknowledging that the posts are “inappropriate, offensive, unacceptable and hurtful”, MUMO also stated that since they were expressed on her personal Instagram account, they do not represent MUMO’s views.
“Samantha Katie James is not contracted to MUMO and has not represented the organization since June 2018,” MUMO stated, ending the statement with “MUMO stands for a non-racial society and strongly condemns all acts of racism and prejudice anywhere in the world.”
This, however, only sparks further ire among netizens, who noted that if MUMO really condemns racism, it would have stripped Samantha of her Miss Universe title by now.
Comments from netizens urging for her title to be revoked continued flowing in social media, and at the time of writing, 10,855 people have signed the petition (showing a growth of about 1000 signatures within an hour).
Americans took part in nationwide protests last weekend following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed while in police custody. The protests call for the four policemen involved in the killing to be charged and for prejudice against black Americans to stop.
Celebrities have also weighed in on the matter, some – like actor John Cusack, singer Halsey and rapper Machine Gun Kelly – even joining the protests themselves and posting updates on them on social media.
(Photo source: Samantha Katie James’ Instagram)