Miss America 2014 welcomed with racist comments on social media

“I have to rise above that,” she said. “I always viewed myself as first and foremost American.”

- Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014 

On Sunday, September 15, the country watched eagerly as the Miss America Organization, "one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women," prepared to crown the 2014 Miss America in the 87th annual pageant. The winner, Nina Davuluri of New York, is the first Indian-American to win the highly sought-after title, but this great achievement in cultural diversity was met instead with racist and hateful comments on social media. 

Comments like "Miss New York is an Indian...With all do respect, this is America" and "Miss America right now or miss Al Qaeda" (these being some of the least harsh responses) flooded Twitter and the internet. Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, responded that “It is deeply troubling that the crowning of the first woman of Indian descent to win the Miss America pageant – an achievement to be celebrated – has been greeted with a series of racist and hate-filled messages on Twitter and other social media."

"Racist Twitter Attacks Miss America," a video montage of Twitter comments made following the Miss America pageant. Courtesy of The Daily Beast/Newsweek. 

In July we hosted Dr. Bill Howe for What Can You Do to Fight Intolerance?, a workshop on cultural diversity and competency. Dr. Howe addressed the racism, xenophobia and intolerance that are prevalent problems in our country and the need to fight such injustices. One exercise involved finding a stranger in the audience and sharing what people say about you based on your race or ethnicity. The group listened and learned about how quick people are to judge others simply by appearance and stereotypes - precisely what happened to Nina Davuluri. Dr. Howe provided strategies for overcoming discrimination and working to increase cultural competency, which can be read in our blog post HERE. These resources are especially timely and the racist comments following the Miss America pageant are yet another call to action on cultural diversity. 

Nina Davuluri has taken a strong stance against the racist response to her crowning, stating that “I have to rise above that...I always viewed myself as first and foremost American.” In an effort to combat the adversity she is experiencing, her personal platform for 2014 will be "Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency," a social media campaign to celebrate diversity and encourage cultural competency. Visit http://www.missamerica.org for more information and to get involved. 

In light of the Miss America pageant and Dr. Howe's workshop, what will you do to improve cultural competency? What was your reaction to the racist social media response to Nina Davuluri's crowning?  Would you be interested in attending another Stowe Center diversity workshop in the future? Share your comments below!

For more information about the racist response to Nina Davuluri's crowning as Miss America, we suggest one of the articles below: 

Forward

"Bigotry Against Indian-American Miss America Slammed by Anti-Defamation League"
by Anne Cohen

TIME Magazine
"Miss America Victory Marred by Racist Slurs"
by Sophie Brown