Oh SWers, I know you will read this and reject it. But I will say it and reject your rejection.
I was a victim of terrorist attacks in Algeria, this was known, yet I was once compared to the YouTube bomber because I look Middle Eastern as a “joke.”
It was incredibly cruel, because I can’t look at terrorist attacks in the abstract; I wasn't safe, they are seared into me through personal loss and personal betrayals. I experience these things far differently than many do. I know that those close to me will remember this. Two spoke up that day for me and I am thankful. I remember it years after.
The same person who joked about that attack preached not to joke about the latest attack, preached empathy and love...etc and seeing how easily others tag along with that selective outrage only deepens the trauma and detachment for anyone on my side of looking at this.
It is hurtful.
It reminds and asserts that human empathy is rarely a shared truth, trust me the irony isn't lost on me..I realize who said this..it asserts that empathy is fleeting theatrics for many, leaving you as someone who experiences these situations to face suffering not just alone, but with the realization that most humans have no intention of changing the reality that produces it. Absolutely none.
And that does hurt even more.
By all means this is the last thing I will say. Not everything that happens in the world has to be tied to my experiences and centered around me, I know that. Not everything is about me, I know that and I criticize it myself to myself. It is unhealthy to always connect the dots, espacially when you are too emotional.
It was incredibly cruel, because I can’t look at terrorist attacks in the abstract; I wasn't safe, they are seared into me through personal loss and personal betrayals. I experience these things far differently than many do. I know that those close to me will remember this. Two spoke up that day for me and I am thankful. I remember it years after.
The same person who joked about that attack preached not to joke about the latest attack, preached empathy and love...etc and seeing how easily others tag along with that selective outrage only deepens the trauma and detachment for anyone on my side of looking at this.
It is hurtful.
It reminds and asserts that human empathy is rarely a shared truth, trust me the irony isn't lost on me..I realize who said this..it asserts that empathy is fleeting theatrics for many, leaving you as someone who experiences these situations to face suffering not just alone, but with the realization that most humans have no intention of changing the reality that produces it. Absolutely none.
And that does hurt even more.
By all means this is the last thing I will say. Not everything that happens in the world has to be tied to my experiences and centered around me, I know that. Not everything is about me, I know that and I criticize it myself to myself. It is unhealthy to always connect the dots, espacially when you are too emotional.
