She Just Won The Title Of Miss Teen Washington USA And A Video Of Her Using A Racial Slur Is Going Around TikTok
In a now-deleted Tik Tok video, footage surfaced of Kate Dixon, the current Miss Washington Teen USA, using a racial slur.
She explained the video’s context to Fox 13 News, saying it was taken three years ago when she was riding in a car with upperclassmen from her high school.
“They coerced me into saying a racial slur. I told them, ‘no, I don’t want to say that,'” but after added pressure, she said the slur. “They told me ‘you have a free pass just this one time, it would be funny.'”
She did not know she was being recorded at the time, but the video had spread via social media by the following week.
According to Kate, the video has impacted her school life, leading to an increase in bullying and even death threats.
Though years have gone by and she’s changed schools, the video comes back to bite her on the public stage.
Despite her apparent regret, there is an underlying issue with the apology she gave to Fox 13. She began by centering her own experience and describing the problematic situation her actions put her in.
“Honestly having gone through this experience, I feel like you don’t realize the true meaning of how something can affect you that’s posted online until you’re caught in a situation like mine.”
She does not accept accountability or acknowledge the hurt that a white woman saying the racial slur causes but instead focuses on how the backlash has affected her.
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She continues, saying, “I think most of all that if they feel offended by this that I am very deeply sorry, that I have learned my lesson and I have not used that word to this day.”
Again, this apology does not own her culpability; she says “if they feel offended by this,” meaning that she sees no ethical issue with her actions if others had not seen the footage.
This kind of if/then apology is a classic cop-out used when the guilty party refuses to acknowledge their wrong-doing but instead focuses on the discomfort of getting “caught.”
Fox 13 shared that Kate hopes to center positivity as her campaign platform, but it might be more prudent to reflect on her own negative biases.
For example, in the new’s network’s video, Kate does not acknowledge other videos of her lip-syncing to lines saying that bullying “builds character” and saying, “I never get sad. Why would I? I’m pretty.”
She does not acknowledge the problematic message these videos send to young girls who idolize the pageant queen.
Unfortunately, it seems like this she has a long way to go before she can contemplate the impact her actions and privileged position can have on others, especially as she continues to gain a public platform.
Kate’s family showed the Pageants Northwest executive producer the video in 2020 with the option to rescind her application to the competition.
However, after deliberation, the organization allowed Kate to compete, saying that Kate “admits fault,” though her Fox 13 apology seemed to blame almost every factor in the situation except Kate herself.
The pageant producer also cited the motto that allows each contestant to “be the best version of themselves” — but in light of her recent interview, it is unclear if Kate has done the inner work to be better.
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