Deise Nunes

Deise Nunes is the first and only Brazilian woman of visible African descent to win the Miss Brasil pageant (1986). While Brazil has for many years proclaimed itself to be a “racial democracy” (a fallacy) in comparison to the perceived racial hell of the United States, there have actually been seven black Miss Americas (eight if you count Suzette Charles who assumed the title after the Vanessa Williams scandal in 1984). In the 57 years of the Miss Brasil pageant, Nunes is the only woman who doesn’t look as if her ancestry is purely European.