One worrisome social problem in our modern societies is the rise of intolerance, racism and xenophobia.

Of course, the fear of the Other has always existed and shall always exist. Moreover, there has been a clear evolution in the positive direction in terms of better understanding between cultures and communities. For instance, homosexuals have been granted rights and the society has come to terms with the fact that gay people deserve the same treatment as heterosexuals. Their sexual orientation is less and less seen as deviant or abnormal.

Another positive evolution has consisted in admitting that cultures are different but that they can grow richer by being in contact together. “Hybridization” as a word has never been trendier. For instance, Bollywood films are world known today while they’ve existed for more than 30 years now, but they’ve only been introduced in western countries for 10 years (even less). Gurinder Chadha, a British film maker of Indian origins, recently made a Western-ized Bollywood film, “Bride and Prejudice” (you’ll notice the pun with the British classic novel “Pride and Prejudice” from Jane Austen). This wave of mutual discovery and acculturation is due to the increasing mobility of people and the rise of mass media that broadcast information but also lifestyles from everywhere around the globe.

So here I won’t deny the global betterment of cultural understanding due to the hyperconnexion of the world, a growing economic development and the coronation of critical thinking.

Nonetheless, I think that there is also indeed a diffuse and often outright visible hatred on the rise. Some argue that within societies the difficulty of different communities to communicate, – especially between “minorities” (people from immigration and/or children of second-generation immigration) and the rest of the population who have been settled for longer and/or are “caucasian”, as American would say – has never quite been resolved. Riots still take place since minorities are still set aside mainstream society and the possibility of climb the social ladder. A very disturbing example that have everything to do with rejection motivated by vivid traditional stereotypes is the rise of racism against gypsies in Italy where two people where left to die in broad daylight on a crammed beach (the bodies had just been covered with towels so as not to disturb people).

To that, we have also to add 9/11which isolated the Arab community by confusing Arabs, Muslims and Terrorists in people’s mind. What’s more, in the US the worst is that most Americans don’t know how to differentiate different ethnicities; most of them would confuse Arabs with Indians with people like Obama who are half white half black… It is quite appalling and you have a perfect illustration of that during the election race in the US:

McCain: Obama Decent, no Arab

“The McCain attempt to connect race and terror on a subliminal level in his advertising [...]:

‘ Later, another supporter told McCain, “I don’t trust Obama…He’s an Arab.”

McCain stood shaking his head as she spoke, then quickly took the microphone from her.

“No, ma’am,” he said. “He’s a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with.” ‘

Worse than the lady’s confusion between Arab and Muslim were her further obvious confusion between Muslim and dangerous.”

E-culture as a solution?

It doesn’t seem that obvious that the Internet can patch up the cracks between communities and people. I’d rather tend to think that it’s both a formidable tool to connect people but they’re more likely to join communities thinking like they do or to find a free platform to spread their ideas (especially when it comes to spreading hatred). So, my idea would consist in organizing debates on cultural, or news topics through the Internet in schools. Because education is where everything is shaped: mentalities and such.

{ Daniel Pearl and Nick Berg had three awful things in common. [...] And both had their excruciating deaths recorded and then replayed thousands, perhaps millions, of times over the Internet. [...] It’s a site based here in the United States with the sole mission of celebrating stomach-turning violence. Under the motto “Can You Handle Life?” the site displays hundreds of images of dead, dying and mangled human beings. Some of its recent offerings were listed under titles such as “shocking murder images,” “suicide by grenade” and “people who drowned.” }

Here you have a peak at some of the most outrageous deviances of the Internet. In fact, Internet magnifies borderline behaviours. For instance, I found out that people watch a sick version of porn called snuff movies where people rape other people and eventually kill them, all that while filming. I doubt it would have gone mainstream had it not been thanks to a platform such as the Internet…

It’s unfortunate but for now the fact that the Internet is based on a lack of regulation and democratisation help the display of violence.

During my internship last year, I had to know what music videos were to be released. So, one day on Videostatic (a bulletin about music videos) I found out at least two music videos created for Barack Obama’s campaign. It is very smart since, for instance, there is one especially made for the Latino population:

It is smart because by 2050, Latinos will represent a third of the US population and in the last elections, like the video said 8 million latino voters didn’t vote.

Add to this example, other viral music videos with Scarlett Johansson and Will.I.Am., and you understand that Obama has a real online communication strategy based on creating contents with stars that appeals to young adults. What annoys me with Obama, though I’m quite fond of him and his idealism and poised attitude, is the fact that he relies too much on hollywood stars. Therefore, if I were to choose between the two candidates, I would choose Obama but I’m not really fooled by the viral strategy which I find sort of irrelevant since there are so many difficult and real issues to be discussed as far as politics, economics and society are concerned.