Tuesday, January 11, 2005

The Tsumani Topic Is IR-Related

I was telling my wife about my "Tsumani Afterthought" post yesterday. Out of that conversation came an interesting conclusion: everything about the Tsumani impact and relief response is interracially-related...not exclusively in the relationship sense (although that is a factor) but in the scope of nations affected.

People of more than 12 nations were involved. More than that, actually, because of many of the devastated locations being tourist resorts. Many "foreigners" were killed, injured and/or traumatized: Europeans, Australians, Americans and Africans, to name only a few.

Relief efforts were spearheaded by several of these "foreigner" nations. People were horrified at the incredible extent of death and they empathized for the survivors. Based on the amount of giving, from all over, it doesn't seem like people stopped to think about the color of skin, nationality or ethnicity of those they were helping.

Finally but hardly least, there were many IR couples either separated or devastated by the earthquake/tsunami. Many "foreigners" were either involved with or married to people of the affected nations. Quite a few were there visiting the native families from those countries.

So, just to clarify: the tsunami topic is not merely relevant for its "newsworthiness," but it's also very relevant to us here at IR Haven. It will be interesting to see how this continues to develop...

Best Wishes,
Allen

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