This past weekend, 24-year-old Indian American Nina Davuluri, born in Syracuse, New York and representing New York, was crowned Miss America. Upon winning, Ms. Davuluri had this to say:
"I'm so happy this organisation has embraced diversity. I'm thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America."Ms. Davuluri is believed to be a practicing Hindu. A nice moment to show the world that Americans can celebrate their diverse heritage, right? Well, maybe not to some mouthbreathers out there:
One Twitter user, DallasRobinson8, wrote: "I am literally soo mad right now a ARAB won. #MissAmerica"
Jakeamick5 added: "How the **** does a foreigner win miss America? She is a Arab! #idiots"
Emi_adkins said: "It's called Miss America. Get outta here New York you look like a terrorist. #bye #americanforamerica"
And another user said: "Well they just picked a Muslim for Miss America. That must've made Obama happy. Maybe he had a vote."Two points: first, you can't spell "Twitter" without the twit, amirite? More importantly, what this shows the world (the report we've linked to is Sky News in the UK) is that we have an underbelly of society that is stone ignorant, racist and not ashamed to show it. Not surprising, of course, but always disheartening.
Luckily, we do have quality people in this country, starting with Ms. Davuluri, who said of the racist comments:
"I have to rise above that. I always viewed myself as first and foremost American."
