By Sam Studer
In Istanbul, there was an attack that killed 42 and injured another 239 people, according to CNN. Being abroad in Europe this summer made this hit extremely close to home. What if this had happened where I was studying?
The response that came from this attack was something completely different. When the victims of an attack are Muslims, there is very little response. Nobody even seems to care or demands answers. It might have to do with the fact in recent years there has been more fighting in the Middle East. Plus we watch movies that involve the world ending. We pay big money to see places that we know and love get destroyed. Why would anyone care to see people who have been portrayed by the media to attack the United States in distress?
What is happening is we are stuck in our ways; we know everything that we want to know about Muslims. We care about people who are similar to ourselves. Americans seem to show more of an interest in international stories if an American is involved.
Even in media Muslims are underrepresented. These tend to be poorer countries, and they do not have the resources to order view media. Companies often forget about these audiences and don’t try to understand what they are like. At the end of the day, they lack the resources in order to push back, share stories, and change stereotypes.
These attacks might have been in a wealthier Muslim state, but this area is not rooted in global ideas. Extremism has also helped to foster issues that have been created for Muslim people, creating stereotypes that they cannot break. The war against terrorism has helped to lead to the rise of global terrorism.
We just tend to go with the flow and only sympathize with people we understand. We refuse to try to understand the situations of people who differ from us. We don’t want to rethink the idea of Muslim, that it is not a violent religion and that there are a few people who are that extreme. It’s important to remember that there are other extremist groups from other religions. We would much rather think of Muslims as extreme and that the West is fighting a civilized war against terrorism.
It might also force us to understand why we treat traditional Muslim countries so poorly. If this “war” were happening on American soil, how would you respond? It would not be pretty, would it?
Today, it might be Muslims, but think of the people in the past (Jews, Native Americans, etc.). We need to look at the world through a new lens because it will give us a new perspective. It might help show us that we do not like what we see. It might also help us to understand how our current politicians achieved power. People are looking for something different. These wars are taking a toll on our society. Take a second and look at attacks and world news through a new lens.