In a first, Indian-origin girl is crowned Miss America

In a first, Indian-origin girl is crowned Miss America

Washington: The tiara had barely been placed on her head and the customary tears of joy had just emerged when racist taunts erupted on social media, marring the moment of triumph for Nina Davuluri, the first-ever Miss America of Indian origin.
    “And the Arab wins Miss America. Classic,” tweeted @Granvil_Colt minutes after the usual final flourish ended in the crowning of the Indian-American, who is the current Miss New York. “Ummm wtf? Have we forgotten 9/11?” said @anthonytkr, associating Nina with the terrorist attack on the US. Some called her Miss al Qaida and others dubbed her Miss Terrorist. “How the f*** does a foreigner win miss America? She is a Arab!” followed up @jakeamick5.
    Nina, 24, for the record, is very much American but of Indian origin, just as sundry racist tweeple are of European and Caucasian extract. Daughter of immigrants from Vijayawada in AP, she was born in Syracuse, New York, and grew up in Oklahoma and Michigan.
    But in a flaming demonstration that an egalitarian, non-discriminatory US, like with India, is a work in progress, bigotry and bias kept popping up on social media for hours after the event.
    “Miss America? You mean Miss 7-11,” sneered another racist, referring to the widespread ownership and management of convenience stores by people of Indian-origin. “Miss America is brought by their sponsors PF Changs and 7-11,” jeered another.
    It’s another matter that the Davuluris fit the Indian-American profile of what the US Census says is the academically most-accomplished and highest-earning ethnic group, “native” white Americans included. Nina’s father Davuluri Koteshwara Choudhary, who migrated to the US in 1981, is a gynaecologist; Nina, whose mother is also a doctor, has a degree in Brain Behaviour and Cognitive Science from the University of Michigan and aspires to be a cardiologist, a goal for which she pledged the $50,000 prize money she won with her crown.