Compassion > Fear
It’s very interesting for me to talk about Syria. Whenever I bring it up to my family, they ask why I care so much about a Middle Eastern country that has nothing or close to nothing to do with China. They ask me why I care about Syrians when advocating for them could potentially put me at risk of Islamaphobic extremists, or why I care about these international issues when I am an engineer at a leading engineering institution. So why is it that I care about this community that almost has no relation to me as a Chinese American?
Growing up in an international community in Shanghai, China has taught me that nationality is just a term of birth. It didn’t matter where I was born or where I grew up. What mattered was how we could set aside our prejudice and differences to work together and serve those without a voice. The Syrian Refugee Crisis is the worst humanitarian disaster of my generation. It’s the worst humanitarian disaster since World War II. The Syrian people are without a nation to call home, a government they can trust, and basic necessities. They are leaving everything they used to call home behind in order to flee death, human trafficking, rape, and terror. But all we can hear about in the news is how we must shut our borders in order to keep these Syrian ISIS terrorists out. All we hear from Republican Presidential candidates is how mosques must be placed under surveillance in order to prevent any terrorists from convening there.
There is a very real sense of fear in the United States. Fear from what’s being told to us, but most importantly, fear of the unknown. What if these refugees are really terrorists? What if they are going to replace our jobs? What if they jeopardize our way of living?
That doesn’t mean we lose our compassion. When we let fear drive out the compassion that is innate with every human, we all lose. I think it’s time to re-harbor the kindness within humanity to not turn a blind eye to these refugees one refugee at a time. There is no easy solution, but there never was for any global situation anyways so let’s stop believing that.
