Shine OnMiss America faces racist backlash for Indian heritage
There's nothing like a good old-fashioned beauty contest to bring out the good, the bad and the ugly in American culture.
Within minutes of New York's Nina Davuluri being crowned Miss America 2014 on Sunday, racist comments began popping up on social media sites, such as Twitter. Many confused the Indian-Hindu winner's ethnicity as being Arab-Muslim, and claim that she is not "American enough" to earn the prestigious title.
"How can a muslim win Miss AMERICA? #sorrynotsorry," tweets one viewer.
"I swear I'm not racist but this is America," tweets another.
Davuluri is the first Indian-American woman to be crowned with the coveted title. Rather than downplay her heritage, the 24-year-old opted to highlight her culture by performing a Bollywood fusion dance.
“It was the first time Bollywood was ever performed on the Miss America stage and it’s such an honor for myself, my family and the Indian community as well,” Davuluri tells Good Morning America.
The 24-year-old beauty from Fayetteville, N.Y., is reacting to the racist comments directed at her with grace and poise.
"I have to rise above that," she tells the Associated Press. "I always viewed myself as first and foremost American."
Davuluri wasn't the only Miss America contestant to exemplify the growing cultural diversity among Americans. The 2014 contest saw five Asian-American contestants overall, more than any in its history, and two of whom were finalists. As The Wall Street Journal points out, racists are going to have to accept ethnic diversity within the pageant in the years to come.
"...with Asian Americans representing a full 60 per cent of next year’s court, the haters will have a full year to get used to the reality that the 'girl next door' looks decidedly different in this, the 13th year of the 21st century," writes Jeff Yang.
In addition to a growing ethnic diversity, the pageant has also become notably more diverse in other ways.
Miss Kansas, Theresa Vail, is an army sergeant and deer hunter believed to have been the first contestant ever to openly display tattoos. And Miss Iowa, Nicole Kelly, was born without a left forearm.
