flora

Racial slurs appeared on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms after 19-year-old Flora Coquerel was crowned 2014 Miss France on Saturday.

The new Miss France is of mixed heritage, a driving force behind the racist hate speech.

From Finnbay:

[The slurs] referred to her as a ”ni***r”, alongside slogans like ”death to foreigners” and ”it would be good to see a bit of white in our country”.

”I am mixed race and proud to be so,” Miss France said. ”Many people can identify with me. I am proof of a multicultural France.” The first Miss France of African origins, Sonia Rolland, came to Coquerel’s defense, noting that when she was crowned in 2000, ”there weren’t any social networks. After I was voted in, I received 2,700 insulting letters, some of which I published in my book ‘Les Gazelles n’ont pas Peur du Noir’ (The Gazelles Aren’t Afraid of Black).

 

Read more at Finnbay

“I’m not a racist but shouldn’t the Miss France contest only be open to White girls?” one commenter posted at Elle. According to French media outlets, the most used hashtag during the crowning were #shame and #n***er.

Thoughts on the racist remarks? Just a reflection of a few or the majority?

Will the world ever come to fully accept that fact that its diverse nature needs to be embraced?

Sound off below!