March 29, 2024


Many “closet racists” exist today in America. They are the ones who do not have the guts to address their issues with race in public, face to face. Instead they use the social media as their playing ground for all types of ignorant, sexist, racist and demeaning remarks directed towards a certain group of people. This bunch of shameless human beings makes it impossible for tolerant Americans to live side by side with people that are different from them. Social media is nothing but a curse and it is being greatly abused by many people in this country. It reveals the true hatred inside others. These people are likely to act peacefully and like saints within a crowd; however, online they express their true feelings on what Americans should be like, by way of dehumanizing people that look different. I cannot stand these ignorant people and I find them everywhere I go. I see their actions in many forms.

My anger on the race issue rises from this week’s crowning of Miss America. A tall beautiful lady by the name of Nina Davuluri of Indian descent from New York City was crowned Miss America for 2013. To tell the truth, I am not someone who follows this kind of stuff on American TV unless there is a Miss Africa or Miss Ethiopia pageant going on. It is not so much about the pageant that got my attention, but the ongoing explosion of the social media by Americans. Whenever the status quo seems to take a different direction, (in this case, a foreigner winning a pageant that was supposed to be won by an “American” or someone that fits the American stereotype: tall, blonde, and blue-eyed), Americans reacted poorly. The negative reactions from some Americans of Davuluri’s win also reminded me of another pageant that took place last February in Israel. When Miss Israel 2013 was crowned, the Israelis showed their true feelings by social media. The winner was a foreigner, from Ethiopia. Her name was Yityish Aynaw. (She is beautiful as you would expect with any other Ethiopian woman.) It was not her being a foreigner that fired up most Israelis, but rather being a black person winning a pageant that has been going on for sixty-three years. Aynaw overcame many obstacles on her own: she was an orphan during her childhood and when she arrived in Israel, large numbers of the black community, especially that of Ethiopians, were being discriminated against for years.

Right here in America, we had another foreigner, of Indian descent winning a pageant. She also overcame personal obstacles to get to the top, a top that was reserved for “others.” Some called Davuluri an “Arab,” a “terrorist,” the “un-American,” “chicken and rice…,” “7-11,” and the list goes on. Some also said, “How the f*** does a foreigner win Miss America” during the anniversary of 9-11. My point is made. This country’s racist attitudes never seem to end and I do not think that they will ever end. Social media made it possible for all those “closet racists” to demean one race over another. Some Americans never seem to move beyond the racial divisions of the past. I had hoped that people in the 21st century would be more tolerant of others, but honestly most of the time, America keeps proving me wrong. Of the recent racial issues, it is indicative that there will never be tolerance in America for any group that might look different. Instead of talking about other pressing issues that face the country, some Americans choose to talk about race, not in a way that brings resolution but in a way that makes it impossible for any type of racial reconciliation.

Some Americans need to self-cultivate themselves in order to live in today’s diverse society. The people being discriminated will transcend from the racist society at some point. Some Americans simply need to stop the hypocrisy and accept the differences and celebrate the achievement of Americans. Hatred and the different forms of racist attitudes are creating tensions between communities, and essentially the country as a whole, that are driving Americans away from the values their country stands for. Hatred is everywhere, no action can really stop it, nor any form of diversity training, like the one for example we had here in Wittenberg on September 8, titled “Campus of Difference.” Nothing can stop these ignorant people from engaging in activities that are demeaning towards other groups, sadly not even those “LOVE” posters plastered around campus last week. In order to stop true bigotry one needs to educate himself or herself by looking around and seeing the achievements being made by those considered to be incapable or simply look at America as a whole and its driving engine: the immigrants.

                                                                                                                                     

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