Racist Tweets after Miss America Nina Davuluri is crowned - first Indian-American to win title
September 15, 2013
Atlantic City, N.J.
Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri Photo credit: The Miss America Organization / ABC
CNN.com reported examples of racist tweets that were posted on Twitter by some users right after Nina Davuluri was crowned Miss America tonight. The 24 year old Miss New York made history as the first Indian American to win the Miss America title. Miss Davuluri's talent routine was a Bollywood fusion dance.
In response to the racist tweets on Twitter, including some Twitter users accusing her of being Arab and a terrorist, Ms. Davuluri said at her first press conference after winning the crown in Atlantic City, "I have to rise above that." "I always viewed myself as first and foremost American."
Ms. Davuluri said "I'm thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America."
A native of Syracuse, New York, Davuluri is applying to medical school. As the 2014 Miss America, she will receive a $50,000 scholarship as part of her pageant title.
Ms. Davuluri's first runner-up is Miss California Crystal Lee. Lee performed a ballet dance, is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, and obtained a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford in four years.
Davuluri is the second Asian American to win the title. The first Asian American to win the title of Miss America was Angela Perez-Baraquio who won in 2001 and is of Filipino descent.
For more on the story:
Jeff Yang, writer of Tao Jones column for Wall Street Journal Online
Related: RedAlertLive.com reports racist slurs for Puerto Rican singer Marc Anthony by some Twitter users for Singing 'God Bless America' and the young Mexican-American boy Sebastien De La Cruz for singing the National Anthem During the NBA Finals.