by Tori Smith
On September 15, the 87th Miss America was crowned in Atlantic City new Jersey. Nina Davuluri is the second consecutive winner from New York, but even better she is the first woman of Indian descent to be crowned.The 24-year-old New York native has faced many racial slurs and insults as a result of her crowning. Twitter seemed to be the social media of choice for the majority of these comments, calling her a “terrorist” and making references to 7/11 and 9/11.

Despite the uproar over her crowning, Nina Davuluri has not let any of the comments get to her. On Thursday, September 12, Nina appeared on the FOX television show “Fox and Friends.” She sat down with hosts and talked about the comments and her pageant victory. “It was an unfortunate experience” she said. “But for one negative tweet, one negative post, comment, there were dozens of positive remarks and support.” Many of the remarks made were targeted at her race, heritage, and religion. “A lot of them stemmed from ignorance,” she continued. “That’s why my platform is so timely right now. I’m promoting the cause celebrating cultural diversity through cultural competency.”

On a lighter note, Nina also commented on how she viewed Miss America: “I have always viewed Miss America as the girl next door, but for me the girl next door is evolving as the diversity in America evolves.” This is a step in cultural equality in America. The crowning shows how America is evolving in the way we view other cultures and is developing a greater understanding and appreciation for cultures within society.