By Steffi Carrera ’14

On September 15 Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, was officially crowned Miss America in the 2013 pageant. Davuluri is the first contestant of Indian descent to win the crown which invariably led to a variety of reactions from the public. While some congratulated the 24-year-old for her success, many angered viewers took to Twitter to express their disagreement with the decision. Racist remarks were pouring from the Twitter community, with over 700 tweets associating the Miss America winner with terrorism. The user @Not_MissAmerica tweeted, “More like Miss Terrorist #MissAmerica.”

The offensive tweets didn’t stop there. User @Ry_lynne4 tweeted, “This is Miss America, not Miss Muslim. #sorrynotsorry.” Jokes concerning gas prices, 7-elevens and Al-Qaeda floated around immediately after Davuluri’s victory. Not only are these tweets completely inappropriate, they’re embarrassingly inaccurate; Davuluri is in fact Hindu, not Arab or Muslim as many people assumed because of her appearance. This episode is a testament to the reality that the America we live in today is not at all free of racism and prejudice. There is still a desperate need for education of different cultures and races for us to be more receptive and less ignorant.