Thirty years ago, in 1983, a Syracuse University student named Vanessa Williams became the first African-American to win Miss America. Yesterday (15 September), a Syracuse University student named Nina Davuluri became the first Indian-American to win Miss America.

I’ve never followed the competition too closely, but I was made aware of Davuluri’s win via Facebook.

On my timeline, one of my high school classmates posted a status that said, “An Indian won Miss AMERICA. What is the world coming to?” …Wait. What?

I’m not on Twitter, but I saw some tweets…

…….Wait. WHAT?!

I was so disgusted when reading those comments. It’s difficult to believe that some people are so ignorantly hateful. Imagine all the hell that would’ve broken loose thirty years ago had there been social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Firstly, Davuluri is is an AMERICAN with Indian heritage. She was born in Syracuse, moved to Oklahoma when she was four, moved to Michigan when she was ten, and moved back to Central New York six years ago.

She smart! She graduated from University of Michigan with a degree in brain behavior and cognitive science, and she plans to use to her prize money to attend medical school with hopes of becoming a doctor.

She is neither Arab, Muslim, nor a member of Al-Qaeda; and Indians had absolutely NOTHING to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks (another thing people were complaining about).

The United States of America is literally a melting pot of all type of races, ethnicities, religions, and so on. So what’s the problem?

I’m just so confused.

However, my half-Indian blogger friend Jennifer said something important. The racist comments “only represent a tiny, pathetic little fraction of the United States… but when you put all those tweets together, they seem like the entire country is on a full-blown rampage against brown people. Because the media magnifies it and blows it entirely out of proportion.”

I agree. The media amplifies things, especially the things that make a “good story.” I think what’s even more saddening than the comments from the small, ignorant percentage of Americans is the fact that these comments are taking away from the beautiful Nina Davuluri and her victory.

Thankfully, she handled everything with grace.

“I’m so happy this organization has embraced diversity,” she said. “I’m thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America.” On the negativity, she said, “I have to rise above that. I always viewed myself as first and foremost American.”

I guess the best thing to do is squash these comments. Perhaps if we ignore them, the spotlight will shine where it should: back on Nina Davuluri. (I know I didn’t ignore the comments in this post, but we can start as soon as I put the period on this sentence.)

Let’s focus on Davuluri. She’s beautiful. She’s intelligent. She made history. She won Miss America.

Thank you, Nina, for rising above this tragedy. You are a beautiful American. Congratulations.

Photos: No copyright infringement intended.