you can understand how someone like vanessa williams, as incredibly beautiful as she is and was, wouldin racial terms. >> yes, a barrier was opened. but then there were people that were my own african-american contemporaries that said, well, it's not good enough, she's not dark enough, she looks like she could pass, she looks like she's mixed, it's not really a win for us. and that was actually more painful than the racism that i kind of anticipated from white people that said, you're not. this is my own community. >> any time you have a cultural shift and part of that cultural shift involves the question of race, there's going to be some vocal, try gent pushback. >> death threats, i had snipers on top of rooftops when i would do outdoor parades. at one particular parade i couldn't even be outside. i had to be inside the car because there were threats. >> she may have been accepted in terms of the pageant and the title she won, but that didn't mean that she was accepted throughout society. it's never a good idea in this society to be the first black anything. >> it is one thing to face

vanessa williams from it new york who has broken one of nation's last remaining racial barriers.e first black miss america. >> when vanessa williams was crowned miss america, we were, like, what? it was awesome. we were very proud. we were excited. she was beautiful. she was classy. she looked like a beauty queen. >> vanessa williams becoming misamerica was like obama becoming president of the united states. >> the first black anything is a big deal. but a miss america? >> being a black person, our beauty was never acknowledged because of the color of our skin. >> you hear it throughout time, black is beautiful. she validated that. >> it was a huge honor and responsibility. women who were elderly came up to me and thought they'd never see it in their lifetime. >> it's about time we had a beautiful black girl representing new york city. >> women that were my age cheered along because they knew that there was a color barrier that had been broken. >> i was thrilled actually. i couldn't stop my heart from beating. >> since the mid-to late 1950s, the miss america beauty pageant is the