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Coverage of the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis Reveals Just a Stupid Amount of Racism from Literally Everyone
The refugee crisis (currently at 1.3 million displaced civilians and rising) created by Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine isn’t the first refugee crisis in recent years. It’s not even the first refugee crisis we’ve watched in the era of social media, as some have suggested. The Western television, print, and radio media juggernaut has had more than enough time and experience to sharpen its teeth for the task ahead of it — yet somehow, its coverage of displaced communities seems a little off compared to previous coverage. See if you can spot the difference.
“Looking at them, the way they are dressed, these are prosperous [people]. I’m loath to use the expression “middle-class people.” These are not obviously refugees looking to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war. These are not people trying to get away from areas in North Africa. They look like anyone you could live nextdoor to.” Al Jazeera English journalist Peter Dobbie, not as loathe to use the expression as he’d like you to think.
