The 12 year win streak for Indian American spelling bee contestants is over.
Zaila Avant-garde, an 8th-grader from Harvey, La won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night, becoming the first African American ever to win the competition.
It marks the first time in 12 years that an Indian American has not won the competition. Chaitra Thummala of the San Francisco Bay Area placed second.
Actor and comedian Hari Kondabolu declared today a National Day of Mourning for Indian Americans. He said his community still has the Geography Bee, but called that “small potatoes.”
“This is tough,” said an emotional Kondabolu, “because we only got the one thing.”
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