QUEEN FOR A DAY

Doug McNair, a columnist for the Denver Weekly News, was listening to Bowman's show the day that Hailey called up. He, too, clearly remembers Hailey's words. And he had the same reaction as Bowman: shock. In a piece written after Hailey's tirade, McNair noted: "Almost every year, something has gone wrong with [the pageant]. Instead of being a showcase for some of our best young Black women, [it] has become an annual embarrassment for them and the Black community." He ended his column with a challenge aimed at Hailey's board of directors. "Are you going to ask Ms. Hailey to resign and protect the reputations of the young Black women who she slandered by calling them sluts and whores? Or are you going to let Ms. Hailey continue to bring more embarrassment to the [pageant] and the Black community? It's time to make a move."

But McNair says he heard nothing, even after he wrote a second column addressing the issue. There was no response from the national office at all until ten days ago, shortly after Pitts-Mason claims to have first learned of the KDKO disaster. At first Pitts-Mason defended her state director. "Teresa does not curse," she said. After she was faxed a copy of McNair's column, however, Pitts-Mason quit talking. She did not return repeated phone calls from Westword.

Councilman Davis, too, was unaware of Hailey's radio gig until given a copy of McNair's column. After reading it and doing some checking, he says he thinks she should resign.

Hailey claims she didn't know she was on the air when speaking to Bowman. (He characterizes that statement as "ludicrous.") Even so, she admits, "I had no business using those two words in the first place. It was another learning experience."

Hailey says she'll resign her position as soon as the next pageant is over--not because of any complaints, but because she's "tired" and it's time to move on. She denies that Pitts-Mason demanded she give up the job. "She asked me to hang in there," Hailey says.

Thomie Allen, president of Hailey's board of directors, is expected to take over the Miss Black Colorado Metroplex pageant for the short term. "She wants to step down because of all the controversy," Allen says of Hailey. "She's been wanting to do this for months and months. But we kept trying to convince her to stay. She was doing such a good job.