On Syria and Black Lives
“As New York Timess TV critic writes on the paradox of citizen videos that expose violence and injustice, there is an echo of our experience of watching videos of civilians getting attacked and bombarded in Syria year after year: you are “there” as a virtual witness but you are not “there” physically to help and your witness may not lead to change: “The video puts you in the moment, but it disembodies you. You are this machine, picked up, dropped down, pulled back out. You are eyes and ears without arms and legs. Watching, by itself, is a kind of paralysis. We can see this thing - but we’ve seen so many tragedies like it by now, and seeing hasn’t kept them from happening again and again.”
- New York Times’ Anne Barnard
Originally published at oxalic. You can comment here or there.