I Miss America

Yesterday a new Miss America was crowned. Her name is Nina Davuluri. She is the first Indian-American to win the title. Her parents imigrated from India to America 30 years ago. Nina is 24 years old so she is an American citizen by birth. She was born in Syracuse, New York and has lived in Oklahoma and Michigan. Her father is a gynecologist and her father's siblings are also doctors in the United States. Nina attended theUniversity of Michigan and won several academic awards including Dean's List, Michigan Merit Award, National Honor Society and graduated with a degree in Brain Behavior and Cognitive Science. She would like to be a doctor and has applied to medical school.

So she seems like a wonderful young woman. The kind of young lady that we would  all like our daughters to be. She honored her Indian heritage by performing an Indian classical-Bollywood fusion dance for the talent portion of the competition. Most Americans were impressed, except those few who saw it as an alQaeda terrorist voodoo dance.

The postings on social media said things like: "I'm literally soo mad now a ARAB won #MissAmerica." and "Only reason she won is bc her people said they would lower gas prices." I guess those two need to consult a map and study up on how gas prices are set. Others who chose to criticize at least realized that India was not in the Middle East. They managed comments like: "THIS AIN'T RCKIN ASIA" and "Wow. Miss America is a damn dot head." and finally "Our new Miss America is a damn dot head...go back to 711 and make me a slurpee."

Todd Starnes, a reporter for Fox News  described what the real America is like. "The liberal Miss America judges won't say this- but Miss Kansas lost because she actially represented American values." and this gem: "Miss Kansas, a gun-toting, deer-hunting, military veteran was America's choice- but not the liberal Miss America judges' choice."

Miss Bavuluri responded with something along the lines of it wasn't her concern she was just going to work on being the best Miss America she could be. Well said young lady, well said indeed.

I miss America. An America who lives up to the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

     Give me your tired, your poor,
     Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
     The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
     Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
     I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

I miss the days before social media where people could just be ignorant with their ignorant friends. An America where the racist comments of a few idiots were not broadcast to the world over social media.

We claim to want diversity until it happens and then too many Americans complain about how the country isn't the one they grew up in. Maybe the America I remember or desire is just a fantasy. A dream where truly all people are created equal, where they are judge by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Clearly we are not there yet. I continue to have hope we will someday.