Miss America Outcome: The Latest in American Racism



Miss New York Nina Davuluri has won the Miss America Beauty Pageant. The 24 year old beauty was one of the two Asian-Americans in the final round. Miss Davuluri won the competition becoming the first Indian-American to become Miss America.

Davuluri's platform was "Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency." For the talent portion of the competition, she performed a classical Indian dance infused with Bollywood moves.

However, Davuluri's win was met with a shocking amount of controversy. Twitter was flooded with ugly remarks, calling Ms. Davuluri an Arab and stating she was 'too brown' to represent America. Some went as far as to call her a terrorist while others said that Miss America should be a "white girl with light colored hair."

Ms. Davuluri says that she has always viewed Miss America as the girl next door, but the girl next door is evolving as the diversity in America evolves. She's not who she was 10 years ago, and she's not going to be the same person come 10 years down the road. She remains positive and optimistic about her role as Miss America, and is passionate about living a healthy lifestyle after battling obesity and bulimia when she was younger.

It is absolutely absurd how much criticism Davuluri has encountered due to her Asian heritage and brown skin. Born in New York to two successful parents, she attended the University of Michigan where she received a degree in brain behavior and cognitive science. Beautiful, intelligent, educated, American born...what else does America want?

Job well done or just poor taste?

 

Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/texas-truck-decal-woman_n_3881700.html

 

 

What would you do if you stopped behind this truck in traffic? Despite its surreal appearence, this scene is acually a decal produced by Hornet Signs, a Texas-based company. Artistically this is an exceptional piece of work and the talent used in making the decal is without a doubt brilliant. However, the subject matter is rather distasteful. With crime against women on the rise, I think that it was in poor taste to portray such bondage and abuse in order to make a profit. In addition, to place this image on a vehicle where it will become a public display, I wonder what confusion this could cause on a busy highway or to people passing by. How does a parent driving behind this decal explain such a depiction to their children? I would appreciate it if Hornet Signs could use their talents to illustrate more positive images, or something witty that can humor onlookers. I acknowledge that some may think that a business is a business, and that Hornet Signs was simply complying to the requests of a customer. But, shouldn't they refuse to service anyone desiring to promote such public displays of violence?