I don't give a rat's ass about the Miss America pageant. In fact, I think beauty pageants, in general, need to go away. We are in 2013 for fuck's sake, can't we leave the high-heeled, bikini clad meat parade back in the '50s where it belongs?!? However, after the shitstorm that followed the crowning of Miss America this week, I feel compelled to respond, which pisses me off worse, because I would rather just keep ignoring the Miss America pageant altogether.
It was the typical story, a very beautiful, 20-something lady was crowned Miss America. It seems like no big deal, except for the fact that our country is filled with a ton of racist shitbags who had a huge problem with the new Miss America's name and skin color. The new Miss America is Indian American. Her family immigrated from India over 30 years ago, so she was born and raised in New York. She is neither Hindu or Muslim, the two most prominent religions in India, but even if she was, why the hell does that make a difference?
Minutes after they put that ridiculous crown atop the head of the lovely Miss America, a bunch of asshole white guys took to Twitter and twatted out ridiculous things like '9/11 was just a few days ago and they choose her as Miss America' and 'more like Miss Terrorist America', because these said assholes aren't educated enough to know the difference between Arabs and Indians. These are the same morons who, after 9/11, were threatening members of the Sikh community, because they wore turbans.
What was more disheartening, but not surprising, was a Fox News radio commentator who proclaimed that the new Miss America was wrong, because she didn't look like a Miss America, and that the honor should have gone to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed chick from the Midwest with the tattoo and safer name. I don't know if this particular fucktard has been living in a cave, or small town in South Dakota, for the past 30 years, but *NEWS FLASH* the new Miss America is what America looks like these days.
In my neighborhood, alone, there are at least a dozen different ethnicities. We have everything from Chinese, Persian, Indian, Pakistani, Korean, Mexican, African-American, African Africans, to just plain, old white folks. We get together on occasion to have neighborhood BBQs, talk about ways to keep our neighborhood safe and clean, and complain about traffic. Do you really think I care that we are the only Jewish family in our neighborhood? Not as long as we are allowed to live in peace, do our own thing, and live happily. I would like to believe most people feel this way, but after the Miss America ordeal, I'm not sure anymore.
I don't understand why there is a faction in the media that perpetuates the notion that if America isn't white, it isn't right. Given our country's history of discrimination, racism, and prejudice, you would think the people perpetuating these messages would know that no good can come from promoting racial hatred. Our country was designed as a melting pot where all cultures and peoples are welcomed to come and build a life for themselves and their families. Think about how boring the U.S. would be if there were only three or four cultures. What would our restaurant selections look like?!?
When I was in grade school, I remember we had a Flag Day assignment where we had to write what we liked best about America. The 8 yr. old me wrote something to the effect of, 'I like the U.S.A. because everybody looks different. In China people don't look different, but in the U.S.A. we all look different.' I remember my mother giving me a kiss on the forehead and bragging to her friend about what I had written. It's 32 years later and I still feel the same, although I'm a bit more enlightened to the regional differences in appearance of Chinese people.
I'm glad that our new Miss America is of Indian decent. In a way, I'm glad that there was a big racist outcry, because I'm sick of Fox News and the Right Wing putting the message out there that racism doesn't exist. It does in a big way, and is often perpetuated by the very same people who claim it doesn't exist. Often in order to incite change, an entity must be shown what needs to change, and we need to do a lot of changing.
It would bring me endless joy to begin a concrete, national conversation on how we can educate our children and our media to be less racist, only then can we tackle other important issues like the fact that it's 2013 and we still have televised beauty contests.
