I'm not even going to get into the misogyny & machismo behind "beauty pageants." But I will address the Puerto Rican part since I'm Boricua (comes from the archipelago's indigenous name, Borikén; note: "Puerto Rico" is the colonizer label).

There's a segment of our people that denies the African part of our heritage. Others will simply say "we are three races," referring to our original people, the Taíno (see Arawak), the Spaniard (the first colonizers here), and the African (people kidnapped & enslaved, then brought to Borikén by the Spaniards).

Still, many here (as well as state-side), insist on selecting "white" on the census.

Check out this article to get a peek at what I'm getting at: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/23/842832544/puerto-rico-island-of-racial-harmony

To say it's "complicated" is an excuse. And I'm not here to excuse those who deny our heritage.