Bigotry – Alive and Well
Hi guys! I know this is my first post in a while but something really pissed me off today, and I’m going to rant about it. If you know me at all, I’ve been told numerous times that my rants are very “interesting”, which is perfect because it matches my name so well (Ruchi means “interesting”). So strap your seat belts cause this is going to be a ride.
I’m all in favor of progression, much like most people. Furthermore, I’m not a big fan of harping on the negative because I feel it’s usually biased and only serves to bring people down. That being said – What the HELL is wrong with this country?? Today was a very progressive day in my book. Although not a happy one (49ers got owned by the Seahawks), a proud AMERICAN-Indian woman won Miss America. As a woman of Indian descent myself, this news put a smile on my face. I went to Facebook to have my joy supported (that was my first mistake), only to find rants from “Americans” about an “Arab” and a “terrorist” winning. Complaining that she wasn’t an American, and that the country is failing because we didn’t let Miss Kansas, an “All American-woman” win instead. Here are just a few examples:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambritten/8-people-who-dont-realize-that-miss-america-is-in-alfr
To those people, I have some words for you. First of all, I’m not sure if you are in fact aware, but Miss America IS in fact just that – American. She was born in the States and represents New York. She wouldn’t BE in the competition if she wasn’t. This logic applies to all you people who think that Obama can’t be president because he isn’t American. He would not be able to legally run in the election in the FIRST place if he wasn’t. If someone’s running, you can guarantee that they’re American, so stop trying to push off your pettiness and anger that YOUR contestant pick didn’t win by using a faulty argument.
Second of all, if you’re going to have the gall to peg someone for not being American, at least get what they ARE correct. Miss Nina Davuluri’s descent is Indian and she is a Hindu. She’s not an “Arab” (the correct term is Arabian for the record, so at least get that right too), she’s not Indonesian, she’s not Muslim and she most CERTAINLY is not a terrorist. Its bigots like the wonderful aforementioned examples here that perpetuate the absolute WRONG ideal that 1. Muslims are terrorists and 2. All brown people are Muslims. I’m not even going to focus on #2 because of how OBVIOUSLY wrong that is (not that #1 isn’t just as dumb, but people don’t seem to catch that so much), but let’s keep in mind that most Muslims are AGAINST terrorism. In fact, every single Muslim I know, love or have even met is blatantly against any terrorism and condemns the actions of terrorist networks. What’s worse is that they are being grouped into a category with people they hate. It’s like saying the KKK and African-Americans are the same because they’re both from the South. That doesn’t even MAKE any sense, so why is it ok to say that terrorists and Muslims are the same? The British consider the IRA terrorists so they must also be Muslim! …oh wait…they’re Catholics and Protestants and Christians. Hm…what about all those Mafias that governments consider terrorists! …dang it, they’re Christians as well…. So if we look at this correctly, aren’t the MAJORITY of terrorists in the world actually Christian? Well hell! I better start discriminating against all the Christians I know because they MUST be terrorists! …I say to a MAJORITY to America! So I guess if Muslims are terrorists and Christians are terrorists….80% of the world is filled with terrorists? Well that’s just wonderful….
I’d also like to point out on a side note that people hating on Muslims doesn’t JUST affect Muslims. Unfortunately, this bigotry has affected the Sikh community heavily as well. Not only have we had several of our Gurudwaras (Sikh temples for those of you who don’t know) been attacked and blown up and disgraced with graffiti and the like, but members of our community are also facing harassment because we’re being mistaken for Muslims. First of all, Muslims don’t wear turbans. Sikhs do. That should actually be your first identifying factor. Secondly, what kind of world do we live in where my people should FEAR being associated with another group, who are supposed to be our brothers and sisters? Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Native Americans – it shouldn’t matter what you are, you should NOT have to fear being persecuted or harassed!
Which brings me to point number 3. A lot of these twitter idiots claimed that Miss Davuluri isn’t American so she shouldn’t be able to win. Are you telling me that because she is a minority, she is no longer an American? I’m not sure if these tweeters are aware, but America is FOUNDED on minorities and immigrants. The ONLY people who can technically claim that they aren’t descended from immigrants is Native Americans, and even they technically descend from tribes that migrated from Northern Russia. Furthermore, America is known as the melting pot of the world. We have the greatest number of ethnicities gathering in one place in the whole world. We should be the most TOLERANT of people, not the least. The fact that it’s even taken this long to crown an Indian should be a sad thing. But it’s a step forward. It’s progress. It’s not a step back to be crowing someone who isn’t a white, Southern belle. It’s not a step back to be unbiased. It’s not unfair to create opportunity to those who aren’t in the “majority”. It’s progress. And anyone who doesn’t see that is clearly delusional.
And this doesn’t apply just to Americans by the way. For all you Europeans or Canadians or Asians who say “look how uncultured and idiotic Americans are” or who are just grouping ANYONE into categories, not all people are created the same. I’m a proud American. I’m proud of my Indian heritage. And if I was uncultured or a terrorist, I wouldn’t be writing this article.
The Opinions of a New Age Student 