The 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde from Harvey, Louisiana jumped from happiness after she correctly spelled the world Murraya and became the first African American to win in the 96-year history of the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition.
This word stands for a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees.
First African American Wins on the National Spelling Bee
Proud Zaila says how she knew that children of color were watching her and dreaming of following the same road. She said she also thought of MacNolia Cox, the first black finalist at the competition in 1936.
Unfortunately, Cox wasn’t allowed to be in the same hotel as the rest of the participants just because of her skin color.
This spelling bee has long been a setting for spellers from South Asian families.
And, until now, the only black winner was the only champion from outside the US. This is Jody-Anne Maxwell from Jamaica who won in 1998.
Zaila’s win breaks the line of at least one South Asian winner every year as of 2008. The girl says she’s hopeful that within the next few years, she can see some more participants who’re African Americans, as well as Hispanics.
Spelling Is Something I Do on the Side, Says Zaila
Zaila describes her dedication to spelling as a “side-job”, even though she practices seven hours per day. She’s also great at basketball and holds three Guinness world records for dribbling several balls at once!
Her dream is to play one day in the WNBA.
Although most spellers begin competing from a young age, Zaila began only two years ago. When asked about the spelling bee, she said how one of the words really troubled her.
This was “nepeta” or an Old World mint plant. She jumped high when she got it right!
This Spelling Bee Differed from any that Happened before
This spelling bee was unique in various ways, including the attendees.
Because of the pandemic, only the closest family members of the spellers could come. In normal conditions, hundreds of fans and former spellers watch the competition.
This year, the event happened in Florida and only the top 11 spellers competed in person. Five of them were gone after the first questions. Zaila became the champion in around two hours for which she’ll get more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.
Even the former president of the US congratulated Zaila-Barack Obama tweeted his congrats and said how hard work pays off!
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