Diversity is our responsibility

You may have seen this picture in your Facebook feed.

It is in response to the world's outpouring of support for France after the terrorist attack last Friday. It is meant to be an honest question - Why was there such a huge social media response of the French attacks and very little, if anything, mentioned after the Kenyan attack?

We know from looking at other news sources that the event was covered through many news outlets online and on television.  We also know the U.S. government had been watching the increase of terrorism throughout Kenya and for that reason, in May, the U.S. pledged $100 million in counter terrorism assistance to Kenya.  Of this $100 million,  $95 million will be used to help fund the Kenyan army.

Yet, most people had no idea about the Kenyan attacks nor the increased financial aid given to Kenya. Why?

Some may say that it is because there is no financial gain to help Kenya. Although Kenya relies on American trade to support much of its growing economy, America does not rely on Kenya. Others may say that the corrupt government of Kenya brings attacks into its country and therefore sympathy is lacking. Still others will say that it is racism; it is easier for a majority-White country to empathize with another majority-White country than it is to empathize with a majority-Black country. I think there is truth in all of those opinions.

Yet, they do not adequately sum up the great disparity in the social media support of France when compared to the support of Kenya. The U.S. government does not, in my opinion, regulate social media; in fact, quite the opposite. One can find posts from the government on all social network sites, but they are not the posts that become viral.

My opinion in this whole matter is: it is our own fault. We decide what we are going to share, post, reply to, and ignore on social media. We decide what we are going to pay attention to in the news headlines. Therefore, it is up to us to become more dynamic and involved in world events. It is our responsibility to make a story go viral. But, before we can do that we must be connected. We need to connect to places people across the pond, to places and people that are completely different from us, to places and people that need our social network support just as much as anyone.

Do you want to support Kenya as much as France? Do you believe that Beirut should have had more support on social media? Did you post anything about either terrorist occurrence? Did you ask your friends and relatives to change their profile picture to the national flags?

The answer is probably, "No".  That is the reason that Kenya did not get more attention. We did not take the personal responsibility to share, post, prod others to follow, and otherwise publicize the bombings in Kenya.



Sources:
http://www.securityassistance.org/latin-america-and-caribbean/fact_sheet/us-counterterrorism-aid-kenya