Dominique Smith | Staff Writer
Ellis Island the gateway for many immigrants from 1892 to 1954, has welcomed many diverse cultures and faces that has made this great melting pot what it is today.
According to the Miss America pageant website “Miss America is more than just a title. She is a woman who reflects a tradition of style, sophistication and service.”
Then why was there such a controversy over the first contestant of Indian descent? Our President is African American; gay marriage is legal in 13 states now and the traditionally white sororities of the south have started to accept black pledges as of Sept 21.
On paper this country seems to be progressing forward but in reality we’ve elevated our prejudices with the use of social media sources like Facebook, and Twitter.
Nina Davuluri graduated from the University of Michigan.She used the money to pay for an education that she won in the Miss Michigan Outstanding teen competition which was $20,000. Imagine that a Miss America that is actually intelligent.
Davuluri didn’t just spring up over night either she also won Miss Syracuse in 2012.
The Miss America pageant is no stranger to controversy.Most headlines mock the competition or poke fun at the contestant’s ditzy answers.
The only reason why this is such a huge issue is because she doesn’t fit the “typical” Miss America look.
Social networking is keeping us connected but it’s also trying to drive us all apart.
The tweets heard round the world calling Davuluri miss 7-Eleven, and Arab and a terrorist in the wide open makes me think as a country we have come a long way from wearing white sheets and holding meetings by torch in the back woods of the south.
It is now socially acceptable to post your opinion how you want and when you want.
In 1983 Vanessa Williams was the first African American crowned Miss America her backlash was hate mail and death threats.
Miss America is supposed to be a pageant for girls all over the world to look up to, and like Davuluri there are girls out there who don’t fit the typical profile.
So whose America is this really?
It is a shame that a country built by immigrants and founded by the oppressed, still oppresses growth and diversity.
With the money that Davuluri received from winning Miss America she plans to go to medical school.
Hopefully some of those who feel strongly about her wrongfully winning the Miss America crown won’t end up in the emergency room where she will be holding the scalpel.
For once it seems that the Miss America judges actually did something right by choosing a role model.
Over the course of the past year, a kid in a hoodie (Trayvon Martin) and an Academy Award winning actor (Forest Whitaker) were both profiled based on how they look.
How well you do something, how smart you look and where you’re from should not have anything to do with race.
Next year there will be a new Miss America and a even newer outrageous controversy to fill our time.
Racisim will still run rampant and we’ll keep denying it exist.
