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| Miss America keeps smiling amidst the haters – and teaching them a lesson | Miss America keeps smiling amidst the haters – and teaching them a lesson |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Here's the silver lining to the xenophobic and inappropriate tweets after Nina Davuluri became the first Indian-American to win the crown: people are talking about diversity and inclusiveness. | Here's the silver lining to the xenophobic and inappropriate tweets after Nina Davuluri became the first Indian-American to win the crown: people are talking about diversity and inclusiveness. |
| Presciently enough, that's basically what Nina Davuluri wanted. Miss America hopefuls must espouse a platform that will become the overarching theme for their yearlong speaking tour, if they win. Miss Davuluri's platform is "celebrating diversity through cultural competency". In other words, she wants to promote effective interaction in cross-cultural contexts. | Presciently enough, that's basically what Nina Davuluri wanted. Miss America hopefuls must espouse a platform that will become the overarching theme for their yearlong speaking tour, if they win. Miss Davuluri's platform is "celebrating diversity through cultural competency". In other words, she wants to promote effective interaction in cross-cultural contexts. |
| The offensive tweets directed at Miss Davuluri followed the predictable trend of an obnoxious but vocal minority airing its discomfiting kneejerk reactions. What made her antagonists particularly galling – and spectacularly culturally incompetent – was the multiple levels of indiscriminate hostility that they exhibited. Was it her skin color (brown=not American enough) that rankled? Or was it an expression of misdirected contempt for working-class, brown-skinned immigrants (hence, the 7-11 and motel owner jibes)? Were her detractors blithely equating brown people with terrorism, with the alarming suppositions that brown=Arab=Al Qaeda=terrorist? It was certainly a show of American stupidity that some couldn't figure out Davuluri is of Indian descent, not exactly a nation on the US terrorism watchlist. | The offensive tweets directed at Miss Davuluri followed the predictable trend of an obnoxious but vocal minority airing its discomfiting kneejerk reactions. What made her antagonists particularly galling – and spectacularly culturally incompetent – was the multiple levels of indiscriminate hostility that they exhibited. Was it her skin color (brown=not American enough) that rankled? Or was it an expression of misdirected contempt for working-class, brown-skinned immigrants (hence, the 7-11 and motel owner jibes)? Were her detractors blithely equating brown people with terrorism, with the alarming suppositions that brown=Arab=Al Qaeda=terrorist? It was certainly a show of American stupidity that some couldn't figure out Davuluri is of Indian descent, not exactly a nation on the US terrorism watchlist. |
| These Twitter trolls don't merit any more publicity. However, showcasing and shaming them serves a purpose. Herein lies the enduring genius of America's free speech model: hate speech sows the seeds of its own destruction by spawning a valuable backlash. It propels the US towards a better place as it strives to be a "post racial" society. | These Twitter trolls don't merit any more publicity. However, showcasing and shaming them serves a purpose. Herein lies the enduring genius of America's free speech model: hate speech sows the seeds of its own destruction by spawning a valuable backlash. It propels the US towards a better place as it strives to be a "post racial" society. |
| But here's something else we should be talking about: such blinkered reactions to unconventional beauty role models are hardly unique to America. In recent times, pageants have become a veritable battleground for exposing and enforcing mainstream notions of national and ethnic identities. | But here's something else we should be talking about: such blinkered reactions to unconventional beauty role models are hardly unique to America. In recent times, pageants have become a veritable battleground for exposing and enforcing mainstream notions of national and ethnic identities. |
| In Vladimir Putin's fair Russia, Miss Russia 2013 – ethnic Tatar beauty Elmira Abdrazakova – was barraged with thousands of hate messages and ethnic slurs from alleged Russian nationalists. Accused of "not looking Slavic enough", Miss Abdrazakova eventually shut down her social media pages. Some detractors demanded a ban on ethnic Tatars and Shors from participating in beauty contests, and others decreed, "a gypsy woman cannot be the face of Russia". One critic obligingly explained that owing to her "oriental parts of face", Miss Abdrazakova could aspire to be Miss Uzbekistan or Miss Tajikistan, but not Miss Russia, which apparently requires a European countenance. | In Vladimir Putin's fair Russia, Miss Russia 2013 – ethnic Tatar beauty Elmira Abdrazakova – was barraged with thousands of hate messages and ethnic slurs from alleged Russian nationalists. Accused of "not looking Slavic enough", Miss Abdrazakova eventually shut down her social media pages. Some detractors demanded a ban on ethnic Tatars and Shors from participating in beauty contests, and others decreed, "a gypsy woman cannot be the face of Russia". One critic obligingly explained that owing to her "oriental parts of face", Miss Abdrazakova could aspire to be Miss Uzbekistan or Miss Tajikistan, but not Miss Russia, which apparently requires a European countenance. |
| Meanwhile, in Fiji in 2012, a mixed-ethnicity Miss Fiji with straight hair was castigated for not being "Fijian enough". The choice of Torrika Waters, who is part-European and part-Fijian, was denounced by many indigenous Fijians, who felt that her mixed heritage did not represent Fiji accurately. She was also criticized for not having a buiniga, the colloquial term for the naturally frizzy hair indigenous to Fiji. | Meanwhile, in Fiji in 2012, a mixed-ethnicity Miss Fiji with straight hair was castigated for not being "Fijian enough". The choice of Torrika Waters, who is part-European and part-Fijian, was denounced by many indigenous Fijians, who felt that her mixed heritage did not represent Fiji accurately. She was also criticized for not having a buiniga, the colloquial term for the naturally frizzy hair indigenous to Fiji. |
| And what of staggeringly diverse India, where public reaction has oscillated between euphoria about Miss Davuluri's breakthrough, and scorn for "bigotry" endemic in America? India's Euro-centric beauty standards have arguably been even worse. Some question whether Miss Davuluri would even have a chance to win Miss India because of her dark skin tone. | And what of staggeringly diverse India, where public reaction has oscillated between euphoria about Miss Davuluri's breakthrough, and scorn for "bigotry" endemic in America? India's Euro-centric beauty standards have arguably been even worse. Some question whether Miss Davuluri would even have a chance to win Miss India because of her dark skin tone. |
| Moreover, xenophobia and racial profiling of Indians from the north of the country – whose features are often distinctive from the majority of India's population – is rampant. There is not one prominent mainstream film actress of northeastern descent. Make no mistake; in the 60-year-long history of Miss India, there hasn't been one northeastern winner, or even one who deviates from the (relatively) light-skinned prototype. | Moreover, xenophobia and racial profiling of Indians from the north of the country – whose features are often distinctive from the majority of India's population – is rampant. There is not one prominent mainstream film actress of northeastern descent. Make no mistake; in the 60-year-long history of Miss India, there hasn't been one northeastern winner, or even one who deviates from the (relatively) light-skinned prototype. |
| And let's not pretend that a non-conventional Miss India wouldn't elicit debilitating backlash. Slurs like "blackie" and "chinkie" for fellow Indians are routinely used without provocation, without inhibition, and importantly, without repercussion. While in school, I recall teachers and strangers alike accosting an Indian classmate with dark skin and a curly mane of hair, inquiring whether she was visiting "from Africa". Granted, "racism" has unique connotations in India, which is beset with starker linguistic, caste and communal divisions, but the overarching point stands: seeking to represent "authentic" Indian beauty abroad continues to be an exclusionary enterprise. | And let's not pretend that a non-conventional Miss India wouldn't elicit debilitating backlash. Slurs like "blackie" and "chinkie" for fellow Indians are routinely used without provocation, without inhibition, and importantly, without repercussion. While in school, I recall teachers and strangers alike accosting an Indian classmate with dark skin and a curly mane of hair, inquiring whether she was visiting "from Africa". Granted, "racism" has unique connotations in India, which is beset with starker linguistic, caste and communal divisions, but the overarching point stands: seeking to represent "authentic" Indian beauty abroad continues to be an exclusionary enterprise. |
| The national conversation after Miss Davuluri's win has turned into a teachable moment. Let's hope other nations, including India, are also learning this lesson. | The national conversation after Miss Davuluri's win has turned into a teachable moment. Let's hope other nations, including India, are also learning this lesson. |