Miss America Nina Davuluri Responds to Racist Backlash: I’m “First and Foremost American”
Truth rating: 10
10:46 am, September 16th, 2013
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Miss America Nina Davuluri is responding to the obscene number of racist comments that poured in on Twitter following her crowning at Sunday’s annual pageant.
As Gossip Cop previously reported, the former Miss New York is the first ever Miss America winner of Indian heritage, an accomplishment she holds proudly.
“I’m so happy this organization has embraced diversity,” Davuluri said at the post-show press conference. “I’m thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America.”
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Among the disturbing missives sent in the wake of the 24-year-old beauty queen’s win were a number of tweets referring to her as Arab, “Miss Terrorist,” “Miss Al-Qaeda,” and “Miss 7-11.”
Some even suggested that picking the native New Yorker was an insult to those who lost their lives in the September 11th attacks.
“9/11 was 4 days ago and she gets miss America?” asked one Twitter user, while another wrote, “nice slap in the face to the people of 9-11 how pathetic #missamerica”
Asked about the hateful responses, Davuluri said, “I have to rise above that. I always viewed myself as first and foremost American.”
What do you think of the tweets and Davuluri’s response?
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