Why Americans Care More About Paris Than Other Terrorist Targets
Race and Ethnicity Are Factors, But the Primary Reason Is the Way Empathy Works
A terrorist attack on a familiar city can inspire a response among global observers not unlike that of motorists passing by a horrible car accident. We slow down to look, to try to understand what happened, see who was hurt, and wonder about the fate of the fallen. It isn’t blood and gore we’re after. It’s recognition. Are the victims like us? Could that have been me?
The horrible events in Paris inspired a round of global rubbernecking and then a sloppy debate over whether the Western World cares more about …
