Viewers across the globe witnessed the crowning of the first Miss America of Indian descent on Sunday Sept. 15, 2013. According to many Twitter users, the newly crowned queen, Nina Davuluri, 24, does not represent American ideals due to her racial background and birthplace. What many of these commenters do not know is that she was born in Syracuse, New York.
After being crowned Miss Syracuse 2013, then Miss New York, Davuluri spent a year training for the Miss America pageant. She reached out to renowned Bollywood dance choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Bringing a fusion of modern and traditional Indian style dance helped Davuluri wow the judges.
Her dance moves also bewildered some Twitter users. Many of the tweets were factually and socially incorrect. Twitter user Colton Evans (@ColtonEvans) wrote, “Egypt dancing? This is America. #MissAmerica.” Davuluri performed a dance in an Indian style not Egyptian. Another user POOKIE (@Granvil_Colt) tweeted, “And the Arab wins Miss America. Classic.” The pageant winner is of Indian descent meaning she is South Asian. She is not from Saudi Arabia therefore is not Arab.
She was surprised to see all the backlash of her win. On talk show “Kelly and Michael,” she compared it to Vanessa William’s Miss America win 30 years prior. Williams was the first African American Miss America. Both were also the first of their race to Miss New York. A few supporters of Davuluri’s made note of this on Twitter.
Twitter exploded with many more posts with more derogatory terms. These tweets also mentioned how Miss Kansas Theresa Vail should have been crowned the winner. According to a tweet by Todd Starnes of Fox News, “the liberal Miss America judges won’t say this—but Miss Kansas lost because she actually represented American values. #missamerica.” These values being Vail’s hunting endeavors and tattoos.
Other important values to certain Americans are physical. Tweets such as “Darn..I wish Miss Kansas would’ve won! Real American woman!!” by Twitter user Jennlyn (@Jennlyn) were rampant across cyberspace. Vail has rejected those who tweet to her saying that is the “real” Miss America. She is white with blonde hair and blue eyes which are considered to be American characteristics as opposed to Davuluri’s dark hair and dark skin.
Davuluri grew up in mostly white environments, and her platform for the pageant, “Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency,” included better representation of women. “I am so thankful that there are children watching at home that I can relate to a new Miss America,” Davuluri said at the post-pageant press conference.
Following her win, Davuluri launched her first campaign, Circles of Unity. She wants supporters to post pictures and thoughts about cultural awareness through the Twitter hashtag “#CirclesofUnity.”
Davuluri has become one of the most famous Miss America winners in nearly a decade. She plans on becoming a physician, but before doing so, she hopes to tackle some beauty image issues. The negative response of her win gives her the opportunity to reach out to young girls through campaigns such as “Dark is Beautiful.”
For more information on the new Miss America, go on missamerica.org.
