She holds Polish citizenship, and her exotic beauty was recognized during this year's beauty pageant. In May, Victoria Forrest was crowned Miss Rzeszów 2024.
Unfortunately, her joy was overshadowed by xenophobic behavior from internet users who believed that the 177 cm tall modeling star did not resemble a typical resident of the Slavic Podkarpacie region.
The most controversial incident was a racist attack by a columnist for the right-wing portal nczas.pl. His comment was criticized by the Center for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behavior.
Forrest responded to the racist and xenophobic hate comments via social media.
"I have been flooded with unimaginable hate online," she said. "In recent days, I have received a lot of racist messages... I can't understand how an adult man, a public figure, can incite hate. This is unacceptable... It is terrible for me that such an enormous amount of hate is directed at me when I have done nothing wrong."
Organizers defend Miss Rzeszów, take legal action
The organizers of this year's Miss Rzeszów pageant stood firmly behind Forrest. "In light of the hate speech, racist attacks based solely on skin color, and the incitement of hate against Victoria Forrest, we have decided to forward all material to our legal representatives to file a report with the prosecutor's office," they announced in an official statement.
They added: "Victoria is POLISH, Victoria is a citizen of the Republic of Poland, she has lived here since birth, went through all levels of education here, works here, and identifies with Poland! We are opposed to such hate speech."
Reactions to Miss Rzeszów's fight against racism
The case of the beauty queen battling racism in Poland has sparked significant emotions among internet users worldwide.
One American temporarily residing in a region neighboring Podkarpacie shared his opinion on the matter. "Victoria Forrest was not white enough to be Miss Rzeszów," wrote Bolaji Balogun on X.
Balogun is the author of the book about racism, Race and the Colour-Line, and a visiting scholar at the University of Economics in Kraków, southern Poland, and Columbia University in New York.
"Racism will not prevail': Polish MP
"To the haters attacking Victoria, I have one message: racism will not prevail, you'll see," commented prominent Polish lawmaker Paweł Kowal on social media, congratulating Forrest on her Miss Rzeszów title.
Kowal, who serves as the head of the Council for Cooperation with Ukraine and was born in Rzeszów, praised the beauty queen for her commitment to the development and promotion of the city and region she hails from.
(mp)
Source: x.com/@OmzRi@BobBalogun/@pawelkowalpl; tiktok.com/@forrest_victoria