As many people invested in various social networking and
blogging circles should be aware, the “Miss
America” pageant has recently crowned its first winner of Indian descent. 24
year old Nina Davuluri represented New York in the competition, and states that
she is proud to see that the companion has “embraced diversity”[1].
But As much excitement as this achievement in American multiculturalism has brought,
there has, however, been some outcry by various Americans on social media cites
due to racist comments about Nina, her ethnicity and whether she is truly “American”.
Although Miss Davuluri has largely dismissed such comments personally,
commenting that for every negative comment about her ethnicity there has been
an influx of positive ones and stating that “I have to rise above that”[2],
I believe that it is important to discuss the racist nature of these posts; and
here I will argue how they are related to the concept of “essentialism”, as
outlined by Anne Phillips[3].
To discuss the nature of these comments about Miss Davuluri’s
ethnicity I shall separate the nature of the comments into two groups, those
that stereotypically categorize her based upon the colour of her skin and those
that state she is “not American enough”. Here are some examples of the prior category.
Not only can we see that these comments are forcing Nina
into a hurtful stereotype based upon the colour of her skin, but they were also
misrepresenting what ethnic group Nina belongs to; stating that she is of Arab origin,
not Indian. Such statements can directly tie into what Phillips regards as the “first
category”[5]
of essentialism, wherein specific traits are assigned to large groups of people
in general categories, otherwise known as stereotyping. As evidenced in the
comments, such essentialized views of culture and race can often lead to
discriminatory views and Phillips elaborates on this, stating that “The
problem here is one of overgeneralisation, stereotyping, and a resulting
inability even to ‘see’ characteristics that do not fit your preconceptions. In
practice, this leads to discrimination: ‘I would never employ, marry, believe
an X, because they are all unreliable.’”[6].
And when we look back to these comments we can see that two such over
generalizations are occurring, the first being the nation that “all brown
people are Arab”, explaining the misrepresentation of Miss Davuluri’s race, and
the second being that “all Arabs are terrorists”, accounting for the various
accusations of terrorism and “disrespect” towards 9/11.
An essentialized worldview can also be seen to account for
comments such as these.
A perceivable reason for these comments can be seen as a stereotypical
view of American “Whiteness”, wherein Anglo-Saxons are assumed to the dominant,
traditional or most important ethnic group within the country. Such views are
incredibly limited, not accounting for America’s history as a migrant country,
its traditional ethnic heritage or its continued practice of multiculturalism,
and it is easy to see how such views can develop into racist attitudes.
It is thus evident how we, as teachers, must strive to
dismantle essentialist views which could potentially lead to racist attitudes amongst
our students and our wider society. Australia, much like America, is a
multicultural migrant nation, and who are we to dictate who is Australian, and
who is not, based solely upon stereotypes and the colour of ones skin.
[1]
Nina Davuluri, quoted in “Americans let their racist side shine post Miss
America announcement”, Daily Life, September
17, 2013, accessed September 22, 2013, http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/dl-entertainment/americans-let-their-racist-side-shine-post-miss-america-announcement-20130917-2tvtj.html
[2] Nina
Davuluri, quoted in “Americans let their racist side shine post Miss America
announcement”, Daily Life, September
17, 2013, accessed September 22, 2013, http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/dl-entertainment/americans-let-their-racist-side-shine-post-miss-america-announcement-20130917-2tvtj.html
4 Rowe, R. “See
The Top Thirty-Five Most Vile Racist Tweets From Right-Wingers About Newly
Crowned Miss America!”, AATP, September
17, 2013, accessed September 22, 2013, http://aattp.org/see-top-thirty-five-vile-racist-tweets-right-wingers-newly-crowned-miss-america/
Your post on Racism highlights the problems that develop outside of the classroom but nevertheless still manage to seep into the cracks through what’s taught at home by parents to children. Regardless of whether or not the intention. When children observe this outside of the classroom they are taught that it’s ok to be racist and to judge those by colour and ethnicity, as if that superficial trait is going to be the base of what the person is actually like.
ReplyDeleteThe tweets and comments made of the new Miss America are disgusting. I read the article to linked us to and was stunned that racism is still so prominent in today’s context. Only closed minded would think that Miss America still needs to be a white female, because she is the “ideal” example of what it means to be “American”. But as I write this, I cannot feel a little ashamed that a Miss Australia pageant will probably not feature an Indigenous female any time soon. I don’t watch these pageants so I have no idea if we’ve already embraced positive Indigenous acceptance, but considering it hasn’t made the papers, I doubt that.
We’re still living in a society where cultural diversity is only reserved for special days – days where multiculturalism is the focus – instead of embracing diversity in our everyday lived experiences. Obviously notions of white supremacy are still running riot in some people’s minds.
Overall, I think your post highlights the depths of racism that still play a detrimental role to society and tolerance of others. Shallow and superficial ideas are what follow this version of Miss America, only to be highly publicised due to the nature of social networking. I’m glad she is above these comments. Someone has to be; otherwise we’ll never be released from the tight grip of racial stereotyping and the stigmas attached.