There Are Concerns Over Racism On Social Media In Regards To The Spelling Bee. Yeah, I'm Serious.

Yahoo News- Racist trolling on social media is casting an ugly pall over, of all things, the world's foremost spelling bee.

But on social media, the reaction from some of the nearly one million people viewing the finals live on cable television veered towards the xenophobic.

"One year I wish an American kid could win," read one of several dubious Twitter posts curated on Storify.com by tech journalist Jeff Chu.

"Not to be offensive...but how do kids from India dominate the American spelling bee?!?" read another tweet.

"The kids in the spelling bee should only be AMERICAN," declared a third.

"The bee is one of the truest forms of meritocracy, and we support every kid no matter where they come from," Kimble added.


Hold the phone! People on twitter are being racially insensitive?! That's it. I can deal with the memes. I an deal with the trolling. I can even deal with anonymously chastising celebrities. However, making racial jokes on twitter is where I draw the line. Who would have that thought the geniuses on social media would use the veil of a twitter handle to say offensive things about children?!

In all seriousness though, this shouldn't be surprising. The reason that some Americans get butthurt about not winning the spelling bee is the same reason that a lot of Americans criticize soccer. It's because we fucking stink at it in comparison to the rest of the world. Coming in second, or in this case probably last, is not something we take kindly to. We just fundamentally don't understand how to lose. It may be our greatest flaw, but that entitled sense of superiority is what makes this the best country in the world. The United States is like the Kobe Bryant of the globe. Really great at winning, but you really realize that he is not all that likable when he is not winning. It's not that we have anything against Asian or Indian kids, it's just that we have an undying desire to be the best.  Why do you think it took so long for the wave of Latino players to start being welcomed to the MLB?  It's no coincidence that Europeans just recently began getting accepted into the NBA with open arms. It takes some time and patience for us to get over our perceptual blindness.

Now I know that damn near every 9 year old Asian kid is smarter than me. I know that a 7 year old Indian child could spell circles around me. However, I am a part of a the minority. I have self awareness. That's not a common trait among most Americans. We have a hard time admitting that intelligence is not something we excel at. Hell, we aren't even smart enough to realize that we don't excel at it. If these tweets are the worst the internet has to offer then people are just going to deal with the necessary evil that is the south. Trust me, the depths of the internet get a lot worse than "One year I wish an American could win".



P.S. I realize that Asians and Indians can be American as well, but that doesn't fit the narrative of the blog so please forgive my intended ignorance.