Story By: Pol F, Sub-Editor: Joe Golder, Agency: Newsflash

This gorgeous beauty-queen hopeful has been attacked by online trolls after becoming the first woman of African descent to take part in Miss Mexico.

Despite being fluent and having lived in the country most of her life, online commentators allege that she does not speak Spanish, and that her African heritage means that she does not have the right to represent the country.

Born in Nigeria with a maternal grandmother from Mexico, Blessing Chukwu, 23, will take part in Miss Mexico in the Mexican city of Chihuahua on 13th March next year.

She left Africa with her family and moved to the city of Tepic in the Mexican state of Nayarit when she was just three years old.

She has now become the first contestant of African descent to take part in Mexico’s principal beauty pageant.

Chukwu said that Afro-Mexican communities are often “invisible” in the country and left without a place in national history.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) only included a survey option for citizens to identify as Afro-Mexican or of African descent in 2015.

It was the first time Mexico recognised its population as multi-ethnic beyond its indigenous peoples.

The study revealed there are 1,381,853 people who identify as being of African descent, representing 1.2 percent of Mexico’s population.

However, the model said that she has suffered discrimination and been told that she should not represent Mexico in the pageant.

Chukwu told the newspaper Infobae that most of the discrimination has taken place on social media, and that haters wrote that she “is not their favourite” on her photos.

She added that many online trolls claimed she “could not speak Spanish” despite being fluent in the national language, according to Infobae.

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