Ukraine Crisis Highlights Western Media’s Already Blatant Racism
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shaken the West. It radiates potential for a new worldwide nuclear crisis, with thousands of Ukrainian lives having already been taken, and millions of refugees fleeing the country. What is happening to Ukraineis a tragedy.
The West’s response has been uncharacteristically compassionate. Since the invasion began, foreign aid has beendeployed by the United States, United Kingdom, and other EU and NATO countries in the form of military equipment andhumanitarian resources. However, it is interesting how mainstream Western media has reacted to these events. Manypublications have shared the view that Ukraine is the victim of international crimes and that the United States and Canadashould be providing support. These views are justified, inoffensive, and ultimately correct. However, when one takes alook at the Western media’s reaction to international crimes in the Middle East, one begins to question these publications’motives.
The Economist has been quite outspoken recently, in its efforts to denounce Russia and call for the West to supportUkraine. While encouraging this political decision is a humanitarian act that promotes peace, one has to wonder why theychose to willingly promote earlier wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, and Western intervention in Syria. The Washington Posthas also been covering the invasion of Ukraine in a similar fashion. In hopes of promoting the idea that this war is moreimportant and tragic than those from the Middle East, the publication has chosen to utilise coded language, including arecent Op-Ed with a headline that stated: “Civilized nations’ efforts to deter Russia and China are starting to add up.” Theuse of the word “civilized” in these contexts evokes an outdated and racist idea that Western countries are somehow more“civilized” than the rest. It undermines tragedies in non-Western countries, implying them to be expected and unsurprising—a part of the norm, or par for the course.
The media’s answer to Ukrainians seeking asylum is absolutely unprecedented when compared to other refugee crises.The Times released this cartoon relating to the Ukraine crisis:
Here is another cartoon depicting their take on Jeremy Corbyn’s decision not to put a cap on immigration:
Unbelievably, pundits across all sorts of outlets are being even more direct that these cartoons. CBS News SeniorCorrespondent Charlie D’Agata stated, “This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seenconflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively European city where you wouldn’t expect that, or hopethat it’s going to happen.” Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles gave a similar statement: “It just occurred to me that this is thefirst major war between civilized nations in my lifetime.” It is difficult to accept that these are the people we considerexperts and analysts on these issues.
These news outlets are not just advocating for violence in these scenarios, but also ignoring these countries’ tragediesperpetrated by the West. Over the past few months, there have been bombings in Syria, Somalia, and Yemen, but theseevents have mostly been met with silence. Even so, these publications should get better at catching their biases, or else,one might accuse them of white supremacy.
Cover Picture by The New York Times.