As the camera films the newly crowned Miss America Nina Davuluri’s shocked and overjoyed reaction, the crowd goes wild. Although the audience is cheering for the first Miss America of Indian heritage, a wave of backlash is about to strike the 24-year-old college graduate.
Racist comments began to appear on websites across the nation, and these discriminatory bigots are furious that Davuluri is Indian American. She was born and brought up in the United States, but people don’t seem to understand the concept that she is in fact American.
As an Indian American myself, these inappropriate and discouraging comments suggest that we, as an ethnicity, are perceived as “different” and not American. Tweets such as “the anniversary of 9/11 happened four days ago and an Arab is crowned Miss America?” and “Miss America or Miss Al-Qaeda?” belittle a large portion of America: Indian Americans.
Racism has always been a part of our society, but I would have never thought that it would go this far against my own ethnicity. Why don’t these racist people hiding behind a computer screen name understand the difference between an Indian and an Arabian? Why don’t they know that it can be offensive to refer to Native Americans as Indians? The problem is simple. Since America is such an economic and military superpower, many Americans don’t realize that there are other diverse and strong countries in the world.
We hear and see propaganda everywhere, and we think that America is the best country in the world, that we have all the liberties the world can offer. Even the news displays other countries as impoverished or lacking. Why is it that the news portrays India as a place where rape and poverty happens every day instead of one of the most diverse countries in the world?
We are trapped in a bubble. Most racist Americans believe that anyone with dark skin and dark hair, anyone who doesn’t look like a perfect country-style American, is a terrorist. When Miss America was crowned, I felt a sense of pride for my culture.
It gave me hope that there was a chance for all cultures in America as it is supposed to be the most diverse nation in the world. However, when I saw those hurtful, downgrading comments, I felt heartbroken, as if my own country had stabbed me in the back.
Racism is inherent in many aspects of our society today. Why? No one has the answer to this simple question. America is, and should always be, a symbol of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, no matter the skin color. We need to resolve our issues by educating the public with general knowledge about the cultures of the rest of the world.