Victims. It’s a difficult word. It’s also a polarizing word at times.
Some macho people deride anyone who becomes a victim: “It was their own fault.” Others cry out against people they believe are professional victims, always claiming they are wronged.
And then something happens such as the attacks Nov. 13 in Paris. The people of the City of Lights were most definitely victimized. Some of the victims died, many were physically injured and thousands more became victims of fear and grief.
Around the world, people showed unity with the people of France. We were overcome with sympathy for those victims.
But they were just the most recent targets of terrorist attacks by people claiming affiliation with the so-called Islamic State. Just one day earlier, two suicide attacks killed more than 40 people in Beirut, Lebanon.
This week, Russian officials acknowledged the jet carrying its citizens over Egypt last month was brought down by a bomb on the aircraft. The crew and passengers, numbering 224, also became victims.
And through all of this there has been another set of victims: People who have been repeatedly victimized by a radical faction of murderers and thugs as well as by their own government. The people of Syria — families, children, the elderly — have been victimized for years now.
And just as much as the people of France were victimized last week, the people who were or are residents of Syria were once again victimized by ISIS as a result of the Paris attacks.
Millions of refugees from the fighting in Syria have nowhere to go. They have been on the move at great risk to their lives. And now, with the attacks in Paris, no one wants these refugees. Citizens of other nations fear that they may include a terrorist among them.
Our own governor, Pat McCrory, joined a chorus of governors here in the U.S. protesting the settlement of any Syrian refugee within their state borders. Now, whether the states actually have any power to bar refugees is another matter. It may be just a lot of political bluster with no real weight, except to flame our fears. But that’s not the issue for us.
We can’t help but feel that the terrorists can claim another victory when it comes to the fate of the refugees. They have not only instilled fear in people in Paris, but in people around the world.
Countries across Europe are closing their borders. The days of Europeans being free to travel unimpeded across boundaries may be ending. Nationalist parties are gaining ground with the European electorate. Identity with a particular nationality is becoming more important than being identified with all of mankind. Armed police and military can be seen everywhere in a show of force.
Are we victims here in Richmond County? It depends on us.
How will we live our lives? If we always fear the stranger and feel no compassion for victims, then in some ways we are indeed victims. And that’s a sad thought.
But we can fight fear and victimhood by reaching out to others, even those we will never know or even meet. How, even following Paris, can we defeat inhumanity and display our own humanity to the world?
What can you do to help victims instead of becoming one? We leave the answers to those questions up to you.