A Minute of Silence For Paris

After the devastating Paris attacks it has becoming evidently clear that our selective mourning in the West is separating us from the rest of the world.

I was messaging two of my school friends earlier today and they both received e-mails from work saying that there would be a minute silence for the victims of the Paris attacks. When they told me about this it became crystal clear how in the West we are told to selectively mourn the deaths of White Westerners more than we ever do for non-whites. My friend Farah works in a law firm and one of the partners at her work raised a valid question, “why don’t we have a minute silence every day for all the hundreds of Syrians that have been dying every single day?” If we are going to introduce a minute silence at work for the victims of Paris, why are we not doing the same for other victims around the world who are equally suffering?

This isn’t just in the work place, but it also extends to other contexts like social media. Why can I only change my Facebook profile picture to show my solidarity for Paris but not for those who have lost their lives in Beirut? Syria? Palestine? And the list goes on.

“If we truly love and promote humanity then we must introspectively assess the equality of this principle. When and where do we extend our humanity? To which country, to which colour, to which creed? Are our values of equality consistent with the grief we share and experience when there is loss of life? What factors determine our measure of outrage? Do we value some life more than others? Why?” Reflections from a dear friend of mine.

Think about it.

We must be boundless in our compassion. We must help all people that are victims to violence in all its various forms from massacres, oppression, colonisation and capitalism. If we begin to understand and implement this, perhaps we can be a part of a collective humanity that does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity or religion.