Global Culture War: Social Media Lab report. Communications & Media

Student Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Global Culture War: Social Media Lab Report
The year 2020 has been a tough one for Asian Americans. They have been battling not only their lives in a pandemic but also a battle against racial attacks. Since the coronavirus started, thousands of Asians in the US have become a target for racial harassment. The spread of coronavirus from China and subsequent disinformation fueled the increase in racial remarks targeting the group. When the infections first appeared in the US, President Trump frequently referred to COVID-19 as the “China virus.” He further propagated a disapproved theory that the virus originated from a Chinese lab (Strochlic). Such remarks from the highest office in the land have led a section of Americans to believe such misinformation and use it to attack the Chinese people. Below is a tweet from an Asian American CBS reporter, WeiJia Jiang, and her reaction when some white house official called COVID-19, “Kung Flu.” The tweet demonstrates the hatred a section of Americans have towards the Asian people in the country (Haltiwanger). Social media, during this COVID-19 season, has been used to propagate hatred towards the Asian people.
It is critical to engage people outside our political “bubbles.” Democracy entails citizens seeing things from one another’s perspective. Where individuals are enclosed in their bubbles, they are unable to see facts from their opponents. The absence of shared facts offers parallel but separate universes for citizens (Hess). In such a case, individuals only consider what people share similar political ideologies to be correct while others to be wrong. Without engaging those outside the political “bubble,” citizens live in an enclosed environment, which denies them critical knowledge. Engaging those against our ideologies does not mean that we agree with their position. Instead, this is an attempt to see the world the way they see it. It is an attempt to understand why they react the way they do. In a democratic society, this is healthy since it enables citizens to engage in political issues soberly.
There is nothing wrong with some degree of political polarization. It is natural for individuals to disagree on fundamental issues and hence have divergent views. When it comes to democracy, people will have different perspectives about something (Hess). Since every view is important, allowing for polarization assists in bringing out the best in each group. Polarization can assist in the advancement of democracy. For instance, polarization can disrupt the status quo and assist in addressing the injustices in a popular struggle. Further, polarization is a great tool for unifying and mobiliz...