Overview
2014 Miss America Twitter Backlash refers to a series of angry, racist messages that were prompted in response to the crowning of Miss New York Nina Davuluri, who became the first Indian-American contestant to win the title of Miss America in September 2013.
Background
On September 15th, 2013, Miss New York Nina Davuluri was crowned as the 87th Miss America, becoming the first woman of Indian descent to hold the title. Shortly after Davuluri was crowned, a slew of racist comments and insults directed towards the pageant contestant began surfacing on Twitter.
Developments
News Media Coverage
At about 12:33 a.m. on September 16th, BuzzFeed staff Ryan Broderick first reported on the racist backlash in a compilation post titled “A Lot Of People Are Very Upset That An Indian-American Woman Won The Miss America Pageant,”[5] highlighting nearly two dozens of tweets that are either gravely misinformed or plainly racist.
Throughout the day, additional screenshots of angry tweets targeted at Davuluri were featured on CNN[8], International Business Times[6], CBS News[1], NPR[3], The Village Voice[9] and The Huffington Post[2], as well as a number of news media outlets in India and the Middle East.
Search Interest
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External References
[1]CBS News – Miss America Cheers Pageant Diversity; Brushes Off Racist Tweets
[2]Huffington Post – Miss America 2014 Win Prompts Racist Twitter Backlash, Followed By (Some) Twitter Apologies
[3]NPR– A War Of Tweets Erupts Over Latest Miss America
[4]World of Wonder – Twitiots: Racists Tweet about Nina Davuluri Winning Miss America
[5]BuzzFeed – A Lot Of People Are Very Upset That An Indian-American Woman Won The Miss America Pageant
[6]International Business Times – Nina Davuluri Nationality: Why An ‘Arab’ Woman Didn’t Win Miss America 2014
[7]Truth Dig – Racists on Twitter Flip Out Because Miss America Is of Indian Descent
[8]CNN– Miss America crowns 1st winner of Indian descent
[9]Village Voice – Fox Host Todd Starnes Outraged That Indian-American Nina Davuluri Won Miss America
[10]PerezHIlton – Miss America Crowns First Winner Of Indian American Descent! Responds To Racist Tweets