Miss California Pageant Crowns 1st Black Winner in 64-Year History

A 25-year-old Cerritos woman who wants to be a comedian said Tuesday that it does not matter that she is the first black Miss California in the 64 years of the Miss America preliminary.

“No, I don’t think it would have made any difference to me whether I was black, white or whatever,” said Simone Marie Stephens, a California State University, Dominguez Hills, communications major who won the crown here Monday night. “I am honored to be Miss California. Period.”

Stephens, who as an outreach coordinator for the City of Lawndale helps to organize anti-drug, anti-crime and senior citizens groups, told a news conference Tuesday that she did not believe a protest by women’s rights activists had much effect on the outcome.

“I don’t think any of the judges were influenced, unless my mom paid them,” she said, getting the kind of laugh she apparently yearns to get professionally someday.

Stephens, who performed a stand-up comedy routine that parodied aerobic fitness instructors, was picked in advance as the winner by Ann Simonton, a former swimsuit model who shaved off her own long, blonde hair outside the San Diego Civic Theater before the contest Monday night while more than 200 other demonstrators cheered.

“A black woman will win tonight,” said Simonton, a 34-year-old Santa Cruz resident who once appeared on the cover of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, “because of our pressure and the pressure of feminist groups around the country.”

Beauty pageants, said Simonton, who has organized a Myth California demonstration for eight years and who Monday was wearing a chicken drumstick necklace and a dress covered in pressed turkey slices, “treat women like meat.” She said they are nothing but “girlie shows.”

On Tuesday, however, the newly crowned Miss California told reporters, “I think I’ve shown that you don’t have to be Barbie Doll-beautiful to win. I hope I have shown how beautiful you can be from inside.”

Stephens wore her crown proudly to the news conference.

Robert W. Arnhym, president of the pageant, said he and his staff paid little or no attention to the protesters. As for the lack of minority-group winners in the past, he said, “We always welcome an increase in ethnic participation. But that doesn’t mean we consider the color of a person to be an advantage or a disadvantage.”

By winning the state title, Stephens received a $10,000 scholarship, which she said she will use to pursue her dream of being a comedian, because “humor is the shortest distance between two people.”

She will also go to the Miss America contest at Atlantic City in September.

The first runner-up was Marlise Ricardos, 25, Miss Palos Verdes-San Pedro, a USC drama major. The second runner-up was Kelly Dixson, 19, Miss Fresno County, a Fresno City College zoology student. Third and fourth runners-up were Suzanne Newhouse, 21, Miss Clovis, and Wendy James, 19, Miss Redwood City.

Asked whether she worries about the pressure of being a role model for youngsters, Stephens said she welcomes it. In Lawndale, she said, she does some volunteer lecturing to high school students who have given up.

“I think they have a wonderful future ahead of them,” she said. “I want to help them realize that.”

Miss California’s mother, Enola Stephens, said of the protesters, “Things like this will happen. You can’t really worry about them.”

The Miss California pageant was moved last year to San Diego from Santa Cruz, where there had been protests, and immediately ran into similar problems. There were skirmishes between protesters and San Diego police and some arrests for littering.

Simonton and other demonstrators filed a $300,000 suit against the city last week, charging that last year’s arrests violated their right to freedom of speech.