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After the winner of Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri, was announced, Twitter was flooded with hateful tweets in reaction to Davuluri’s Indian-American heritage. Many ignorantly mistaked her as an “arab” and many tweets accused Miss Davuluri of being a terrorist!
The 24-year-old Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, is the first Indian American to win Miss America and the second Asian American in history to win the titile, while the second runner up, Miss Carlifornia Crystal Lee, a 22 year old Chinese-American who graduated from Stanford, was the runner up! Asians REPRESENT!
“We’re making history standing here as Asian Americans”, Davuluri said moments before the winner was announced.
In response to the backlash, Miss Davuluri nonchalantly shrugged it off, stating that, “I always view myself as first and foremost American”.
Being Asian American myself, I applaud Miss Davuluri for being so resilient against all of the racism she faced from fellow Americans. It’s already difficult to put yourself in the public eye, in front of millions of people. But then to have them believe that you’re not suitable based on your racial background, something you have completely no control over, must have taken some serious balls.
I give props to her for handling it so beautifully–we’ve already seen plenty of beauty queen slip ups in the past just from interview rounds — and for Miss Davuluri to respond so well to negativity really does merit her the crown. It’s hard to be proud of your ethnicity if everyone ridicules you for being different, even though this IS America, the land of immigrants.
I know I struggled with cultural identity myself when I was growing up, along with many others out there–I felt that Asians were somehow inferior to Caucasians. I believed that it was bad to act Asian or look Asian. In high school, white girls were seen as the most popular and the prettiest, and it was hard as an Asian to break into that crowd. Now as I’m maturing, I’ve realized the inequality is alleviating a bit since there has been more of an assimilation of Asian culture in America (I mean, c’mon who doesn’t love sushi and Psy?). At least this year’s pageant seems to hint at that, as there seem to be more Asian participants (and winners) than ever.
On another note, the ignorant Tweets make me question what some Americans might think of Indians. I mean, I hope they realize that geographically, India is very much a part of Asia. But what I am also very proud of is that Asians indeed are gaining popularity, I mean we did just win first and second place at the Miss America pageant so… haters can hate. I believe this is a testament that Asians really are rising to the top, against the stereotypical view that Asian girls are just quiet and shy. This recent victory shows that Asian women can in fact be outspoken and powerful women as well as amazing role models. Snaps to both winners for showing the world your stuff despite all the hate!
For a male perspective, listen to Eliot Chang in this hilarious and honest rant!:
About the Author:
Ann M. is currently an undergrad studying at UCLA, with a passion for art, entertainment, and fashion. She was born in Bangkok, Thailand and moved to the US when she was 8. Although she was raised in a primarily all-white town, her transition into the LA community has made her appreciate her Asian heritage more, and has inspired her to get reconnected with her roots. You can find Ann doing random paintings in the art department or just ranting on a blog on her free time. Her creative mind encourages her to explore and seek out new experiences, especially within the dynamic LA culture.
Written by Editorial Staff