Lists of these prizes have grown sketchier in recent years, with Mrs. Mason rarely disclosing brand names or the size and source of the "cash award." In her office, she said definitively that all prizes have been secured by the date of each pageant. Yet nine months after Tashia was crowned, several of the contributors specified on her prize list said they did not in fact contribute.
Savvy Boutique gave no gift certificate. Leather Plus promised no leather coat. There is no "Holiday-In Select" in New Orleans, but the people at Holiday Inn-Select say no one from Metroplex ever called to arrange a "two night stay."
Carolyn Mason forbade her queens from exhibiting "any type of attitude."
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None of this becomes an issue, of course, until a queen lives up to her contract. The last rule of the contract forbids queens from contacting gift sponsors without Mrs. Mason's permission.
Tashia convinced herself the contract was just a formality. Probably the pageant had encountered a difficult queen, and the contract wouldn't affect her, since she wasn't a difficult person.
She had been told as a contestant to "imagine" her picture in the Houston Chronicle. Now, Tashia began looking for it. She told her family in East St. Louis she would send photos for the hometown paper as soon as she got them.
Mrs. Mason was away for a time. When she returned, she explained she had gone to Las Vegas and then on a lovely cruise. Tashia wrote her a check for $240 to cover the official pictures and video. When she inquired about her prizes, she was told they would be awarded throughout her reign. Tashia settled in for the wait.
"Oh, Tashia, you just don't know how tired I am," said Mrs. Mason, when Tashia inquired about the plans for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The day came and went without a Metroplex float in the parade. Tashia went on with other royal appearances. She served as a model for a hair show; she worked as a hostess for a YWCA event. She had looked forward to mentoring young women, but she noticed that, to Mrs. Mason, mentoring seemed to mean recruiting women into the pageants. Tashia was not yet convinced that was the responsible thing to do.
She declined when Mrs. Mason invited her to go gambling in Louisiana. She kept it polite. Mrs. Mason began complaining about Tashia's hair and appearance. Rather than building her self-esteem, Mrs. Mason seemed to be trying to break her down. Tashia considered Rule 20 and tried not to react.
The national pageant was supposed to take place in Atlanta, but the date kept shifting, and Tashia was finally told that at some point the pageant would again be held in Houston. Mrs. Mason explained this was as the mayor wished. Tashia was actually looking forward to the pageant, until she ran into Miss Black New Mexico Metroplex, who was from Texas. Miss District of Columbia was from Texas, too, and Miss Virginia was from Oklahoma. And Tashia realized that anyone with cash could enter the Ms. Black USA Metroplex contest, and she felt like "Michael Jordan playing high school basketball."
Her interest was limited after that, and then she learned that she was expected to sell ten pages of advertising for the booklet or recruit 25 contestants. At about eight months into her reign, she had not yet received her pictures or much more than her crown and banner, and Tashia was seriously chafing against Rule 20. Without her prizes, she declined to sell any more ads or to recruit any more innocent women into this scam masquerading as a community service.
Tashia asked her predecessor why she had allowed this to happen. Tonia Sharp explained she had crowned Tashia because she "didn't want to rain on anyone's parade." She never complained publicly because she was afraid Mrs. Mason would attack her, and also because this was a black problem, and the world already knew of too many black problems.
Tashia had no patience with this. Mrs. Mason was nothing more than "a pimp in sequins."
"This was supposed to highlight African-American women, and it's turned into exploitation," said Tashia. "You're led along and misled, but you keep smiling, because everyone says, 'Oh, how wonderful! It's about time we had this for our community.' But what price do we have to pay to look good before our own community?"
Tashia wrote her letter. When she was informed that she had been removed as queen, Tashia shrugged and said she had never really felt like one. Mrs. Mason's reply to her letter accused Tashia of everything from failing to write thank-you notes to appearing with panty lines to damaging the pageant's reputation to lying. The pageant that purported to teach poise would in the end offer only a lesson in how to fight like a dog. Tashia had learned what pageants are all about.
E-mail Randall Patterson right here.
