Miriam Ticktin’s post “What’s Wrong with Innocence” reinforced some of the points that we discussed last week in class. How migrants and refugees are portrayed, especially in the media, heavily impacts policies and perceptions of them. In addition, we create this idea of who is worthy and who is not worthy of help. People react more positively towards migrants and refugees or are outraged by the treatment they receive when images like those of little Aylan appear. Unfortunately, much of this is driven because those portrayed are people who look a certain way. Concern and empathy quickly disappear the moment that something negative surfaces and suddenly everyone is fearful and indifferent.

A quote from the post that very clearly summarized this was “The point, of course, is that only some people and some plights get noticed when innocence is what draws our attention to them. Furthermore, while innocence can compel responses to important events such as the refugee crisis, it can also create a distinction between worthy and unworthy victims in these same events.”

The more I learn about the process and factors that affect migrants and refugees, the more I realize that others need to educate themselves as well. The treatment and aid that migrants are refugees receive should be improved but its also very important to understand the consequences of  humanitarian aid so that we do more good than bad. Of course, this would be so much more complicated because you never really know what those consequences can be. At the very least, I think if people educated themselves more of the subject, we would think twice before jumping to conclusions and think more critically of what they see portrayed in the media.