As Nina Davuluri took her first walk as the new Miss America on Sunday night, audience members and viewers at home showed their true colors. They showed dismayed over the crowning of the Indian-American beauty by expressing their views through a social media, especially Twitter. They attacked the former Miss New York through a variety of insults, including using racial slurs and dubbing her “Miss Al Qaeda” (@SHANN_Wow). The main accusation by social media users online is that Davuluri is “not American.” “Shes like not even american and she won miss america” and “this is America. not India” proclaimed the Twitterverse (@kathrynRyan50, @sarawhitton).
Born in Syracuse, New York, and raised in Oklahoma and Michigan, Davuluri comes from an “American” background. The daughter of Indian doctors who immigrated to the United States in the early 1980s, Miss America embodies all ideas of the great American Dream. Unfortunately, an uneducated public is trying to crush that dream with their negativity. Misidentifying Davuluri as Muslim, Arab, Egyptian, and Indonesian, among other ethnicities, Twitter users did not just stop at proclaiming that, essentially, non-white participants of the pageant should be disqualified. They also linked her to terrorist organizations, such as Al Qaeda. Some took it even further, outraged that she should be crowned in the same week as September 11. Those who correctly acknowledged her Indian heritage made racist jokes, playing on the stereotype that Indian-Americans often work in the grocery and food industries.
It is ironic that the 24-year-old New Yorker is bullied about her race, even after her answer in the question round of this weekend’s pageant. When asked by Miss America judge, Carla Hall, about TV host Julie Chen’s plastic surgery to appear “less Asian,” Davuluri responded, “I’ve always viewed Miss America as the girl next door. And the girl next door is evolving as the diversity in America evolves…Definitely be confident in who you are.” One has to question if Davuluri is staying confident after her crowning. Considering the negative feedback from the public, she is putting on a brave face. “I’m so happy this organization has embraced diversity,” she told The Associated Press. “There are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America.” Addressing her “non-American”-shouting haters, she said, “I always viewed myself as first and foremost American.”
Davuluri was not the only contestant rebuffed for her race. Fellow Top 5 runners-up Miss California Crystal Lee and Miss Minnesota Rebecca Yeh got backlash for their Asian roots. Exactly thirty years after Vanessa Williams was crowned as the first black Miss America, it was refreshing to see the racial diversity at this year’s pageant, with 13 non-white contestants. It showed a forward-thinking Miss America, focused more on intelligence, drive, talent, and poise and an attempt to move the pageant into the 21st century. Yet many Americans were not yet ready for the group of diverse, educated young women, who happen to be the face of the future America. (According to Census Bureau reports, America will be much less white than it is today, with the percentage of blacks, Asians, and Hispanics increasing in our population.) These women are independent and strong. They represent many different backgrounds: they are accessible; they are role models; they are real. They do not fit the stereotypical 1950s pageant queen archetype. They are more than that. The judges could see that, choosing to focus on inner beauty and accomplishments.
Some of those who verbally fought Miss America’s title were firmly set on who they believed should be queen-bee: Miss Kansas Theresa Vail. The 22-year-old blonde beauty is the second military woman to participate in the pageant. As a sergeant in the U.S. Army, and the first Miss America contestant to bear tattoos, Vail was a fan favorite long before the cameras starting rolling at the Atlantic City show. A humorous and highly talented young woman, Vail made it to the Top 10, but was cut from the competition after the talent round. Online, she was well-like because she embodied the “real” American woman: she can sing, she has tattoos, she likes to hunt, she is poised but goofy and self-deprecating. She represents middle America. But on closer inspection, she does not embody all of America as it is today. She embodies what an ideal America used to be: middle class, white, Christian, rural, the picture-perfect “WASP” woman. For all the progress the pageant made to depict a well-rounded, diverse America, thea segment of the public still gravitated, predictably, to the “All American Beauty.”
“I swear I’m not racist but this is America.” How has this come to define America, a country renown for its opportunities, for its freedoms, and for being the greatest melting pot in the world? How dare anyone deny Miss America 2013, a talented and intelligent woman, her shot at the American dream? Why are we stuck in archaic mindsets of who deserves to be praised for their accomplishments and then rewarded with scholarship funds to pursue their passions? Who are we to judge? To Twitter user @JAyres15 and to all of those ganging up on Nina Davuluri: you may swear you are not a racist, but I swear that you are. You hide behind prejudice and bigotry, you are close-minded, and you are un-American.