Beeline to diversity: Young speller blazes path | Columns
Beeline to diversity: Young speller blazes path Shalini Shankar Editor's note: When Zaila Avant-garde, 14, won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee on July 8, she became the first Black American to win in the competition's history. Shalini Shankar, a scholar of spelling bees, breaks down the importance of this historical moment. Q: Why is it news that an African American won this championship? A: It's significant because not so long ago, Black children would have faced a lot of obstacles just to compete in this spelling bee. In fact, Black children were routinely sidelined from participatin...