We All Count!
The world has not been the same since September 11, 2001. The actions taken that day by a few has changed not only American, but also global lives. The War on Terrorism has affected global politics and economics. Judith Baker writes about the “unprecedented suspension of civil liberties” (3) in her book Precarious Life. Out of the disaster of 9/11, came the US Department of Homeland Security, which has the mission of securing the nation from the many threats we face. Wire-tapping, eavesdropping, and information collecting of our own citizens has become a norm for “protecting” us from terrorists. These invasions of privacy have been touted as being necessary to keeping us safe from terrorists. But who is a terrorist? This is where opinions come into play and our media is the worst at helping form America’s public opinion. There have been several mass shootings recently and because they were American, white shooters, these acts were not considered terrorism. The fact is that these acts are terrorism, home-breed terrorism. After September 11th, there was an antimuslim sentiment in the US that was ugly. Many taxi drivers across the US were attacked for wearing turbans, mosques were protested and even attacked. This was an ugly time in the US and everyone hid this blatant racism behind the flag. This war on terrorism “paralyze(d) our capacity to make ethical judgements on what is right or wrong” (9). During this time Americans rallied behind President Bush standing on a fire truck at ground zero, and mindlessly agreed that these terrorists had to be found and stopped, we heard of “weapons of mass destruction,” and believed these lies. Butler talks about this being the time of the “rise of anti-intellectualism” (1). Meaning that we stopped thinking for ourselves and blindly rallied behind the cause to get the bad guys. We forgot to think of the repercussions and jumped on board of the anti-muslim ship.
During the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan raids, the American public was given numbers of the deceased, however these numbers failed to include the native population that were just collateral damage. Did we eliminate terrorism and hate towards America? No, we created more. We came in there under the guise of liberating them from tyrannical oppressors and ridding their counties of terrorists, but if an American bomb killed my entire family, I would hate us too. Our direct actions killed an “estimated 200,000 Iraqi citizens, including tens of thousands of children” (12),yet these numbers are not known to most of the US public. We clearly put US lives first and failed “to conceive Muslim and Arab lives as lives”(12).
Students with disabilities are often stereotyped, categorized and othered. They are often victims of bullying and fall through the education cracks with no one noticing. There have been preconceived notions that these students are just stupid or lazy and the fact that they have diagnosed learning disabilities is over looked or forgotten. The question that “preoccupied her (Baker) in the light of recent global violence is, Who counts as human? Whose lives count as lives? And finally, What makes for a grievable life? Many of my students have felt shame and embarrassment, and have felt that their lives are inferior. Many of them compare themselves to siblings and peers, and often feel they do not match up. One of the main focuses of my job is to let these students know that they do matter and they are great. To put a smile on their faces and build up their confidence makes all the work I do well worth it.
