The racial hatred toward Nina Davuluri — the first contestant of Indian heritage to be crowned Miss America – was swift, relentless, and ugly.
“How the f–k does a foreigner win miss America? She is a Arab! #idiots,”’ one man tweeted after Davuluri’s historic moment.
“If you’re #MissAmerica you should have to be American,” another woman wrote.
“9/11 was 4 days ago and she gets miss America?” said another man.
I guess the racists forgot — or don’t care — that Davuluri is actually an American citizen with a college degree. But all they see is a woman of color who reminds them of terrorism. And her skillful performance — a classical Bollywood dance during the Miss America Pageant’s talent segment – sent the bigots completely over the edge.
“This is America, not India.”
One called Davuluri “Miss 7-11.”
“Nice slap in the face to the people of 911. How pathetic.”
The events of September 11 were undoubtedly tragic and horrific, but Davuluri didn’t have anything to do with it.
Davuluri graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in brain behavior and cognitive science. She was born in Syracuse, New York, and when she was four years old she moved to Oklahoma and then Michigan with her family before returning to New York six years ago. Her parents immigrated to Missouri from India in 1981.
Davuluri says her father, a gynecologist, inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. She wants to be a cardiologist.
COMMENTARY: The Browning of America Proves to Be Too Much For Some was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
