Obviously the former.
Some of the abuse was just plain stupid.
How deep a problem? Not too deep with people of some quality as the young woman was crowned as winner, but deep enough as the attacks were rather broad in scope.
What does the racist abuse that Miss America received on Twitter really say about American society? Is there actually an underlying problem? Or are the media just looking for a headline?
As depressing as this may sound, I think racism is something every nation struggles with to a certain extent.
I think it partly comes down to human psychology and tribalism - being untrusting of anyone that looks or sounds different than you in case they are a threat.
I think part of it is also media and government propaganda. It's no coincidence that people struggle to tell the difference between Indians and Arabs, and assume an entire sub-continent is involved in terrorism in this era of "war on terrorism" and two wars in the gulf war and decades of continuous unrest in the Middle East.
I have my conspiracy theories, but priming the population for war often means a little us vs them propaganda, and I think we're seeing the fallout from that in cases like this.
Speaking of war and propaganda, how quickly did certain members of the American public forget WWII?
The majority of racists on Twitter were supporting Miss Kansas to take the title (or tiara, or whatever...)
Isn't it just a little ironic that the woman described by some as "What a real American woman looks like" is very similar to what one Adolf Hitler thought a "real Aryan woman looked like"?
We can make as many excuses as we like, but these people are living in the age of information. If they really cared or wanted to know what life in other countries was like, or what ethnic minorities contribute to the US... All they need to do is open up a web browser.
The fact that they can't be bothered or refuse to inform themselves says it all really.