America – Can the Media Change Reality?

America in and of itself is one of the wonders of the world, and is the most influential country in a variety of different fields. It is a country of economic and military might, a country of institutions and diversity and open-mindedness, a country of soft power, a country of law, a country of contradictions, a country that breathes tolerance while it flirts with racism. It is a scientifically advanced country that wins Nobel Prizes in multiple fields. It is a marvel of a country that a European writer once described as “the cure and the disease,” a country whose food, films, sports, coffee, medicine, vehicles, books, research and military bases are ubiquitous everywhere on Earth.

However, if you interact with ordinary American citizens, you might find that America is different from what you hear in the media. These are citizens who focus on finding employment and spend most of their time concentrated on their professional lives. They tend not to occupy themselves with politics, and especially not with foreign affairs.

Before my research trip to America, I remember feeling a little worried because of the violence and racism that I’d often see in American movies. After arriving and moving in, we found that our neighbors were an African American man and his white wife. It was a relief of a start that made me wonder: Are the violence and racism in American movies overexaggerated? During my time there with Saudi friends and colleagues, we forged friendships with people of many different nationalities, both Arabs and non-Arabs alike. We formed a soccer team that included Saudi, American, Portuguese, Mexican, Arab and French players. And some of us became friends with American families through social events at the university. We noticed that in general, Americans are easy to get to know and friendly, and they enjoy discovering new things and innovation. We were in a small city, and it was a pleasant experience from both a social and research perspective. The police dealt with traffic violations with a high level of professionalism; they respected you as a human being, but would still enforce the law. At the same time, I know that small cities are not representative of large countries as a whole, America or otherwise, and that they should not be the sole consideration in forming judgments and opinions.

I remember those days as I follow what is currently taking place in America, as I follow incidents that are akin to accusations, accusations that are usually leveled against developing nations. Yes, there are problems, crises, and dubious practices that take place in developing nations, and what justifies that is their developing nation status. But when it happens in an advanced country like America, it’s like they’ve fallen to the 13th world!

There have been incidents of racism, violence, looting, vandalism, street warfare and defilement of monuments. There have been media wars, casting doubt on elections, sharp partisan divide, spread of weapons, increase in crime rates, spread of drugs and leaked intelligence reports. And here I wonder anew: Is America at an unprecedented low point in its history, or is it overexaggerated by the media? Or is it the natural result of radical capitalism?

It is true that protests, racism, and murder alone would not constitute a public emergency, but the recent challenges to American systems have been bolder and more violent than normal. An unprecedented degree of partisanship, security shortcomings, a police force on the verge of losing its reputation, and worst of all, demands to abolish the police entirely! The discussions about racist incidents are reactions to the news from a partisan perspective. None of them offers a fundamental solution that takes economic factors, education level, standard of living, or the issue of unemployment into account. These matters are obvious to American intellectuals. And they know that the first step toward combating racism is adopting a unified, national stance that is above political partisanship. The other important step, from a neutral, non-American writer’s perspective, is revamping the media and social discourse about racism.

The solution to racism anywhere in the world, not just in America, is for every human’s life to hold importance, and to make sure that principle is not just a slogan without application.