Ignorance- February

Ignorance

                Are American citizens ignorant of the goings-on in the Middle East? Many people would argue that we are not ignorant, but fully aware of world events. I believe that these people are in denial. I think that they view this accusation as threat to their intelligence. Many Americans are very intelligent, but that does not mean that they’re fully aware of events taking place outside of our country. Personally, I believe that the majority of Americas are ill-informed of what is going on in the Middle East, including myself. Many people get their information from the news or their phones, but the number of people who actually watch the news is decreasing. Many people today are seeking news through satirical television shows instead, such as Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, or The Colbert Report. While these programs may be silly, this is sometimes the only way that people receive information. I think that these shows are a great way for people to become interested in the news, but they should not be our only source of information. It would be fantastic if the viewers would research the topics that they hear about to become fully informed, but unfortunately this is not the case.

                We read a book in AP English class called A Thousand Splendid Suns. This piece of literature taught me more about modern events in the Middle East then I’ve ever learned in social studies class. This book presents life in the Middle East in a new way by providing readers with a personal connection to the characters and the daily struggles that they are going through. Before reading this book, I knew basic knowledge about world events, war, etc., but I did not fully understand why we are at war and what life is like over there. I knew that conditions in Afghanistan are bad, but I didn’t realize how horrid they actually are until I read this book. While I still consider myself a somewhat ignorant of the goings-on in the Middle East, I would consider myself a tad more informed since reading this book.

                I think that Americans’ ignorance of the Middle East can be summed up by how some people treat Muslims, or people who look like Muslims for that matter. After the tragedy of 9/11, many people were suspicious of any and all foreigners from the Middle East. Americans, being the ignorant people we are, would see a man with a turbine and beard and immediately think they were a terrorist. It is no secret that people who look this way are often the ones who are “randomly selected” at airports. Most Americans, including myself, would not be able to identify the different people of various cultures and religions in the Middle East. While many Americans know the general information of the events in other countries, the majority of us don’t fully understand their cultures and the way that they live, thus classifying us as ignorant. An understanding of other cultures is the key to a land free of ignorance.