Blog #6 - Terrorism: A Numbing Epidemic

In modern society, hearing about the heartless killings happening all around the world is not an uncommon occurrence. Unfortunately, we've grown accustomed to these acts of terrorism and hatred. Although it is undeniable that there is a deep desire for a global community that can and will support their neighbors, that doesn't mean we have achieved that community. It seems brutal, but it is becoming more and more obvious that we only care about those near to us. For example, on November 13, 2015, Paris was attacked and 130 people were sadly killed. America and many other first world countries leapt to France's side almost instantly. This, of course, is very kind and generous. But, what many people don't know, is there has been at least 6 attacks in Turkey since the summer of 2015. The attacks in Ankara, Turkey, have been some of the most devastating, yet hardly anyone has shown any sympathy or tried to reach out a hand to those suffering across the globe. 

In my opinion, terrorism is something that is looked over much too often. I hate to think that our sympathy is not deep enough to feel for those everywhere, not just those who are convenient to us. Not only this, but I have noticed a common accusation directed towards Muslims or anyone of middle-eastern decent. People seem to think that all Muslims are responsible for the awful things happening around the world. This thought is so prominent that a young refugee in Greece felt like the recent attacks in Brussels were his fault. He wrote a sign saying, "Sorry for Brussels," and it somehow ended up getting onto social media for all to see. The fact that young children especially have been exposed to such a hatred for their culture is absolutely absurd to me. Terrorism has no religion. We spend too much time pointing fingers at others and not dealing with the problem at hand. What about the victims in Turkey? How can we help them? We need to think about how we can aid those in Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen, and all the other overlooked countries. 

This relates to class because we are talking about civil liberties and civil rights. Racial discrimination like this is exactly what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was created for. We also spoke about the Patriot Act which increased federal powers to investigate terrorist activities. This act was used a lot recently to search for terrorists and find out their plans.