The hypocrisy of America -- Land of the Free and Home of the Brave -- has been prominent since our great nation's humble beginnings. Early settlers preached freedom but enslaved those who didn’t look like them. There has been a constant division of us versus them since day one. America is (arguably) the most powerful country the world has ever seen but we only provide international help when it is convenient for us. When Syrians reached out to us for assistance during the refugee crisis, over 60% of our states slammed their doors in the faces of helpless individuals and their families. In cities like New York and Boise that took in large amounts of refugees, there have been no problems with assimilation and Syrians have become contributing members of society. We call them "terrorists," unpredictable aliens who will wander our streets in the shadows waiting to strike, when, in reality, much our recent terror has been home-grown. We push out innocent victims seeking better lives in the land of opportunity, shunning our own immigrant roots. At some point along the way, we forgot our "Melting Pot" ideals and created clear divisions between insiders and outsiders, so much that our newest President plans to build a wall along the southern border of the country using American funds to make the separation irrefutable.
Recent events from the Syrian Civil War have struck Aleppo to the extremity where some are making parallels to the Holocaust. Clicktivists were outraged on social media platforms of all kinds and broadcasted a call to action for American politicians into the Internet abyss. The outpouring, again, amounted to no political action. Comparing the events of Aleppo to what most Americans consider one of the most horrific genocides in history, and subsequently doing nothing to intervene, is appalling. We look back at our history and say "never again" but when a chance comes along for us to right the wrongs of the past, our politicians are stagnant.
It is possible that our apathy arises from being desensitized to acts of terror. We have become numb to statistics and glaze over articles telling tales of international horrors. An estimated 400,000 casualties have resulted from the Syrian civil war, which seems to pale in comparison to the 800,000 in Rwanda and nearly 6 million of the Holocaust. These numbers are over 100 times higher than the death toll of 9/11, which caused unprecedented levels of national outcry. It is easy to turn away from events happening half a world away, but does this make them any less relevant to us? Does this hypocrisy stem from a disconnect between the governed and the government or is it a result of an overwhelming sense of apathy? Has distrust of our political leaders and media made us inactive participants?
American history books present our nation as the savior of modern democracy and freedom -- the liberator as opposed to the oppressor. When needed by our allies most, though, we appear to be absent.
