As anyone who watches the news would know, there were terrorist attacks in France on Friday the 13th, 2015. Many people can bear witness to the reactions from this event, and how some of them were, to say the least, disappointing. There was a lot of support from people all over the world, and that is a very positive thing. However, this response of changing profile pictures and painting this event as a call-to-action, brought up how eurocentric America, among many other countries, is. Eurocentric refers to a focus on European culture, while not recognizing a wider world perspective. Now questions have arisen, like: how come there was not this amount of support for Kenya when a major university was bombed in April? Point is, some of our reactions have created problems rather than solutions.
Here are some things to consider about our reactions:
- We shouldn’t care about Paris MORE than the rest of the world. We are all humans, and each life should be considered of equal value.
- This tragedy should be covered by the news, but should not take it over- extremely unfortunately, other terrible things are happening in the world. Did you hear about the two recent attacks in Yemen?
- You can be scared, but that does not justify racism or discrimination against Muslims. It shouldn’t have to be said, but there is reason to. People have pushed their fears of ISIS and terrorism onto the Muslim community, as well as people from the Middle East, grouping everyone in with the terrorists. They are not one and the same.
- Express support- but develope your own opinions on if you agree with France’s response, and remain informed on the events following the tragedy. Changing your profile picture is one thing, but remaining aware of the situation and its progression is another.
To reiterate, supporting France in the wake of this tragedy is in no way bad, but forgetting the rest of the world, or pushing our fear and anger onto the wrong group is what needs to be avoided. I suggest that everyone remain well informed on world affairs, and take actions to express our support for everyone targeted or oppressed around the globe.
