Like many, I found myself anxiously watching Miss America 2014 last Sunday night. Although I kept my fingers crossed for Miss Connecticut, I’m happy to see that the talented Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, won the coveted title and crown, becoming the first Indian Miss America.
I’ve never been in a pageant, but I can appreciate the message each woman standing on stage wants to portray to the world: confidence, courage, inner beauty and diversity. What made Miss New York stand out was her positive attitude and appreciation for her Indian heritage. She even performed a Bollywood dance piece for her talent, staying true to her roots while also looking drop-dead gorgeous.
Miss America represents self-determination, and it empowers young women to achieve their goals. These women are true warriors; they are scholarship recipients who go on to raise thousands of dollars for charities throughout the country, and Davaluri will not disappoint.
However, social media has been less kind. After Davuluri’s crowning, Twitter and other sites exploded with negative remarks, saying she was either a terrorist or wasn’t “American-looking” enough to be Miss America. Some even had the gall to compare her win to the 9/11 attacks and al-Qaeda.
One tweet read, “First a president from God knows where, Africa now a miss America lady that I can’t say or spell her name…Terrorist.” The ability to classify someone simply based on their name is shameful. Very few can say or spell my last name correctly the first time, does that make me a terrorist too?
Davuluri deserves credit for dealing with these hateful remarks with such composure. According to news reports and interviews, she’s brushing them off (you go girl! Rise above the ignorance).
And clearly, none of these Tweeters decided to do their homework (or even consult a map) before linking India to al-Qaeda. In a nutshell, the militant group was founded in Pakistan, with other cells being linked to Afghanistan.
India didn’t fly jetliners into the Twin Towers, so comparing Davuluri’s heritage to one of the most devastating moments in American history is simply disrespectful.
Race has been a hot topic in this country since the days of slavery hundreds of years ago, which prompted a Civil War in the mid-1800s and Civil Rights activism in the 1960s. Discrimination has not only been aimed at African-Americans, but also at Chinese and Japanese-Americans, Jewish-Americans and those of Middle Eastern descent in more recent years.
The country that prides itself on being a melting pot of cultures takes a step back each time a racist slur is spoken, each time someone is persecuted for their beliefs, and each time an individual is judged by the color of their skin or ethnicity.
This country was built upon freedom and equality, yet people label others solely on their appearance.
The fact that this year’s Miss America wasn’t the “cookie-cutter” image of an American girl or Barbie doll caused an uproar, and it is moments like these that bring out the true nature of the hate simmering within the nation.
Although it hurts to admit it, Americans have a long way to go before they’re able to live up to the tolerant nation they falsely pride themselves on being.
It isn’t fair that a beautiful, intelligent person like Nina Davaluri, and others like her, still have to deal with the ignorance of others.
For the social media haters who write that Miss America should be for “Muricans,” firstly learn how to spell, and secondly realize that rude, racist comments will get you nowhere.
