---
title: "Miss America pageant puts Indian Americans in the spotlight"
description: "This past weekend, for the first time in its history, the Miss America pageant crowned an Indian American as the winner. The announcement was followed by a barrage of tweets disparaging the beauty queen’s ethnic heritage and questioning whether her Indian background makes her less “American.” The new Miss America is 24-year-old Nina Davuluri of […]"
date: "2013-09-16"
authors:
  - name: "Neha Sahgal"
    job_title: "Vice President, Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/neha-sahgal/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/09/16/miss-america-pageant-puts-indian-americans-in-the-spotlight/"
categories:
  - "Discrimination & Prejudice"
---

# Miss America pageant puts Indian Americans in the spotlight

[![FT_miss-america-discrimination](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/09/FT_miss-america-discrimination.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/06/19/the-rise-of-asian-americans/2/#chapter-1-portrait-of-asian-americans)

This past weekend, for the first time in its history, the Miss America pageant [crowned an Indian American](http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/showbiz/miss-america-racist-reactions/?hpt=hp_inthenews) as the winner. The announcement was followed by a barrage of [tweets](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/09/16/miss-america-victory-marred-by-racist-slurs/) disparaging the beauty queen’s ethnic heritage and questioning whether her Indian background makes her less “American.”

The new Miss America is 24-year-old Nina Davuluri of Fayetteville, N.Y. Her parents emigrated from India 30 years ago. Davuluri, who is a graduate of the University of Michigan, plans to attend medical school and become a physician, like her father.

The Indian American community, now numbering more than 3 million, has notably high rates of education. According to the [American Community Survey](http://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/data_main/), seven-in-ten Indian Americans ages 25 and older have a college degree, compared with 28% of the general population. A Pew Research Center [survey of Asian Americans](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/06/19/the-rise-of-asian-americans/2/#chapter-1-portrait-of-asian-americans) conducted in 2012 found that a majority of first-generation (foreign-born) Indian Americans (71%) cite educational or economic opportunities as the main reason they decided to move to the United States.

The survey also found that few Indian Americans (10%) say discrimination against their community is a major problem. Nearly half (48%) see discrimination as a minor problem, while 38% say it is not a problem at all. When asked about their personal experiences with discrimination, most Indian Americans (81%) say they have not been treated unfairly because of their national origin, but nearly a fifth (18%) say they have faced discrimination. And while a large majority of Indian Americans (90%) say they have not been called offensive names, 10% say they have had that experience.