After costume controversy at Miss Universe, Jamaicans celebrate Miss World win

"This is outrage against what that costume represents..."

Posted 21 December 2019 19:31 GMT

Screenshot of a “Good Morning, Britain” interview with the 2019 Miss World pageant winner, Miss Jamaica, Toni-Ann Singh.

Beauty pageants are extremely popular in Jamaica. Many find these glitzy events to be an affirmation of Jamaican culture on the world stage — like sports and music.

Jamaicans celebrated on December 14, 2019, when Jamaican Toni-Ann Singh won the Miss World contest. But one week prior, on December 8, Miss Universe sparked displeasure thanks to a “national embarrassment” over Jamaican delegate Iana Tickle Garcia's national costume, which paid homage to a legendary slave owner.

While Jamaicans joyously celebrated Singh's Miss World win on social media, the Miss Universe costume controversy continued to stir debate online.

Singh, an aspiring doctor born in the rural parish of St. Thomas, dedicated her victory to ambitious, young country girls like herself:

Toni-Ann Singh
@toniannsingh
To that little girl in St. Thomas, Jamaica and all the girls around the world - please believe in yourself. Please know that you are worthy and capable of achieving your dreams. This crown is not mine but yours. You have a PURPOSE.

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Jamaican social media, unsurprisingly, erupted in joy and a wave of patriotic fervor:

Terri-Karelle Reid
@TerriKarelle
Talk truth! Wi Queen TUN UP! #MissWorld2019

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Olivia “Babsy” Grange, Jamaica's Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, was especially delighted:

Hon.Olivia Grange
@Babsy_grange
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She’s done it. Miss Jamaica, Toni-Ann Singh is Miss World 2019. We are so proud! #Jamaica

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For many Jamaicans, the Miss World crown helped assuage the anger and discomfort caused at the Miss Universe contest, when Garcia appeared on stage in a white carnival-style outfit titled “The White Witch of Rose Hall”.

Garcia's Miss Universe costume sparked outrage because it paid homage to “Annie Palmer,” the main character who features in the gothic Caribbean legend of the “White Witch of Rose Hall.” According to legend, Annie Palmer was a white woman born in Haiti, who learned to practice voodoo as a young girl. She moved to Jamaica and married John Palmer, the owner of a “great house” — Rose Hall, located in Montego Bay, which is now a major tourist attraction.

The legend is largely derived from a 1929 novel by H.G. De Lisser, replete with racial stereotypes. In the book, she was sexually rapacious, had four husbands and several lovers, including male slaves, many of whom she murdered. Eventually killed by a slave herself, the story goes that Annie Palmer's ghost still allegedly haunts the historic house.

Research shows that there was a real woman by the name of Rosa Palmer — the first mistress at Rose Hall — who apparently did have four husbands, but no criminal tendencies. Subsequently, there was a Jamaican-born Annie Mary Palmer, who had no connection with Haiti, and who died a widow in relative obscurity and not in Rose Hall. But the “White Witch” story has been crafted into a titillating attraction for visitors to Rose Hall, which offers tourists a haunted night tour during which Annie Palmer’s ghost might appear.

One Jamaican objected strongly to what the costume represented, wondering whether the contestant had objected to it:

Denise Walters
@like_daw
Why would the ppl in charge of the #MissJamaicaUniverse pageant send this young lady to the #MissUniverse stage as a notorious slave master who killed countless black ppl esp black men. Also, why didn't goodie speak up? #AnniePalmer was the best y'all could do? Uno wrong fi dis.

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The Miss Universe Jamaica Facebook page shared this description:

[…] Dubbed the White Witch of Rose Hall, local folk legend has it that Annie Palmer ruled the 18th century plantation with an iron fist and drove fear in the hearts of loved ones and enemy’s [sic] alike. Her iconic home, the Rose Hall Great House is a national heritage site in Montego Bay Jamaica and still stands magnificently today after almost three hundred years as a popular visitor attraction where many claim they have spotted Annie Palmer’s ghost.

Jamaican social media users were deeply offended by Miss Jamaica Universe’s depiction of a slave owner:

Stepping Razor