Within seconds of the crowning of Miss America 2014, Twitter was flooded with racist comments directed at winner Nina Davuluri, an American of Indian descent.

The people who tweeted negative remarks are blind.

They inhabit a country trying to represent freedom, diversity and opportunity, but their actions contradict our credo. They need to respect the ethical foundation’s vitality in the growth of our country and the human race.

While it is true the views of many people are unchangeable, they can at least keep those views to themselves.

The inflammatory tweets are perfect examples of how naive people can be.
Some tweets mistakenly identified Davuluri as Arab or Afghan, often including comments falsely associating her with terrorism.

One user by the name of Kaleb Trahan tweeted, “Man our president nor our new Miss America isn’t even American I’m sorry but Miss Kansas I salute you your the real American #MissAmerica.”

If the prerequisite for becoming Miss America is to be of white European descent, like the aforementioned Miss Kansas, then America is defeating its own aspirations of portraying itself as an example for the world.

Davuluri met the contestant eligibility requirements decided by the Miss America organizers, which was to be a United States citizen between the ages of 17 and 24, be of sound health and have available the time to represent the Miss America Organization over her year-long reign.

“I have to rise above that. I always viewed myself as first and foremost American,” Davuluri said, according to USA Today.

Davuluri’s perseverance and attitude are perfect examples of why she was chosen to be Miss America 2014.

Diversity must continue to grow, not only in events such as the Miss America pageant, but on a daily basis as well.

Unfortunately, racism is still prevalent in this country. Nonetheless, the progression from what it used to be to where we stand today is impressive.

Instead of throwing hate and negativity around, people should learn to understand one another and educate themselves as an important step to improving race relations.