Although she won the crown and title of Miss America, America was anti Semitic at the time. So many companies, like Catalina swimsuits ,didnt want a Jewish woman promoting their products or being seen intheir establishments, that she had plenty of free time. She used the free time to work with ADL and promote tolerance and equality . One ad showed her with Afican American kids walking to school and sai, You cant be veautiful and hate. The Pageant officials were unhappy about her involvement in these Communist activities and constanttly gave her a hard time about it. But then in the 70s, when tolerance was The Happening Issue, Pageant officials acted like Bess was the best thing to ever happen to the pageant; a role model! I prefer to focus on this, rather than her unfortunate later years. Today, we might not think of winning a beauty pageant as the pinnacle of success, and Bess would,no,did agree. Still, were talking about 1945, not 2015. In those days, it WAS the height of success for the girl and her cimmunity. And Bess made the very most of that opportunity. If I ever win the Mrs America contest ( for older ladies), Im going to encourage Americans to reach out to vets and take vacations in Israel.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 22:42:46 +0000
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