Image extracted from 10 Conflicts to Watch in 2021.
Lawrence, September 14, 2022- Why do some wars matter and some don't? Clearly this is a very strong question and/or assertion because as a human being of course all wars should matter in fact they should not even occur. Unfortunately, this is not the case. However, there are things that play important roles in this situation. Those things are the lack of media coverage and the biggest of them all racism and xenophobia.
If the media does not cover the situations and injustices, it is to be expected that there will be no outreach to the masses to be able to get outraged or start talking about it. For the locals it is always a constant outrage what governments put them through and then the people protest and try to do something about it. But the outsider sees what he sees, if he does not have the time to search and inform himself about what is happening in that particular country. So, here is an example, I remember last year with the situation of the Taliban taking control over Kabul in Afghanistan how the media was talking about it and the horrendous images they were showing in the social networks. To create that sensitivity and empathy I find it necessary to show the reality of what they are going through. But that was it, just too bad and that's it. “On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security promised Temporary Protected Status to all Ukrainians currently present in the United States, a designation yet to be extended to Afghans, among others whose home countries the U.S. played a direct role in destabilizing.” But when we see what happened with Ukraine and Russia. Yes, there was sensitivity and empathy, but the support for Ukraine was very visible. Everyone on Facebook putting on their profiles the Ukrainian flag and saying that they support them. Where was that same visible support for the Afghans who were clearly climbing on the wings of the planes because there was no more room for a single soul in those planes and what they wanted was to get out of there.
Left: Mon., Aug. 16: People climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport to depart.
Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images Right: Evacuees crowd the interior of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, carrying some 640 Afghans to Qatar from Kabul, Afghanistan August 15, 2021. Defense One/Reuters
Migrants hold placards during United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s visit to Ain Zara detention center for migrants in Tripoli on April 4, 2019.
Photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFP via Getty Images
One of the most unbelievable, but sincere answers I have read to the initial question is: "Some wars are of little interest because they are happening to people far away, who are very different from us, living in countries that are not 'important' enough. It is crystal clear that the answer indirectly represents between the line’s racism and xenophobia. “The EU’s commendable displays of sympathy and hospitality toward Ukraine’s mostly white, mostly Christian refugees stand in violent contrast to its policies of deterrence, detention, and state-sanctioned death targeting African and Middle Eastern asylum-seekers by the millions. “We are wondering,” Ahmad al-Hariri, who fled the war in Syria 10 years ago and has been trying to reach Europe ever since, told Reuters, “why were Ukrainians welcome in all countries while we, Syrian refugees, are still in tents and remain under the snow, facing death, and no one is looking to us?” The contrast, to put it crudely, is as clear as black and white: Even within Ukraine’s refugee population, African exchange students and other nonwhite residents have faced racist violence and segregation as they attempt to leave the country, with many reporting being blocked from crossing borders while their white peers are welcomed with open arms.” (Granger, 2022)
Obama in Puerto Rico, 2011.
We can take Obamas time in presidency as a cover for racial revolution or diversity in government power. Being Obama administration demonstrating great numbers of deportation and everything. Obama being the president that has deported more people than any other president of the US. And taking some position that made Muslims and others believed in his ‘diversity’. I might get off topic, but I will try to bring it back; I remember back in Puerto Rico people saw Barak as a great option for president to attend Puerto Rico’s Status Issue, but now we never forget the PROMESA bill he sign. PROMESA established a federally appointed control board with sweeping powers to run Puerto Rico’s economy. This has created a lot of discrepancy among Puerto Ricans because the funds are being cut every time for health, education, retirement, etc. Basically, we don’t make decisions in PR they make the decisions for us. Puerto Rico has a Puppet Government being even more corrupt than ever in the history of the country.
"Omi and Winant define race as "a concept that signifies and symbolizes conflicts and interests in referring to different types of human bodies" (Omi and Winant 1994, 55). (Genova,2012) What we have seen through history is that people have configured race into no more than a political Struggle. Again, bringing to light my first blog, the major problem that brings us to this is power. Wanting and having is what governments have brought us to where we are. The great amount of conflicts is because of power and power transforms the human being until it corrupts him.
Resources:
Genova, N. (2012). The War on Terror. In D. Martinez HoSang & et al. (Eds.), Racial Formation in the Twenty-First Century (pp. 173–193). University of California Press.
Granger, M. (2022, March 8). AS EUROPE WELCOMES UKRAINIAN REFUGEES, IT LEAVES OTHER MIGRANTS CAUGHT “BETWEEN TWO DEATHS.” The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2022/03/08/ukraine-refugees-europe-border-policy-libya-sally-hayden/
Sergio, I really appreciated all of your photos throughout your response that help you visualize the reading. I also found it interesting that you brought up Obama and his presidency, because many, during that time people thought it was the best time and that this presidency would change everything. Mean while so many people were being suppressed and harmed during the war in Afghanistan. Thank you for your response.
Sergio, I agree with you about Obama's tenure. I think often in Political Discourse on the progressive side/left, Obama is often lauded as a kind of faultless perfect president, and I don't think that discourse is helping anyone, because, under his administration, like any other, there were so many violences perpetrated by the U.S. imperial machine: relentless drone striking in the Middle East and mass deportations and detentions of immigrants at the Southern border are just two examples.
Sergio, I agree with your analysis of why some wars draw more support than others. I thought your second quote was a great example of this concept because it talked about how race and religion play a role in the way we perceive those communities. I also thought it was interesting that you mentioned Obama's immigration policy because I never really knew how hard on immigration he was.