Miss America controversy

Last night in Atlantic City, Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, was crowned Miss America 2014. As she stated herself, she made history as the first Asian American to win the coveted title. However, this doesn't seem to amaze people. Many posts on Twitter and other social media outlets lash out at the newly crowned woman due to her Indian decent. Comments attack her for being a terrorist and say her win is a slap in the face to those affected by 9/11. Tweets criticize her for not being a white woman and claim she is not American.

I have a lot of questions for the people making these attacks. First of all, have you been paying any attention to the news these past 12+ years? Indians are not a threat to our country nor are they to blame for the September 11th terrorist attacks. Stereotyping is and probably always will be a very large issue in diverse countries such as America, but just because someone has the same skin tone as a terrorist group does not, in any way, make them a terrorist. The ignorance in this claim is scary to me. It seems Americans need to watch and read the news more often.

Second, she is making history!! Yay- this is a good thing! Congratulate her, don't criticize her! She worked hard to win that title. And if you know anything about the Miss America Organization, you know there is a lot of research done on the contestants competing and they must be US citizens. If she wasn't American- as everyone seems to think- she wouldn't be able to compete. Simple as that. Again, we can't assume that someone isn't American just because of their skin tone. She is just as American as the rest of us.

Being a diverse "melting pot" of races and ethnicities, I thought the country would be happy for her historical accomplishment but apparently I thought wrong. We must start changing the way we think and act toward racial groups in this country if we want to see a change in the responses people have to situations such as these. Like Ghandi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Plus, wouldn't it get kind of boring if EVERY Miss America looked exactly the same and had the same racial background? Just a thought.