Social Media Creates an Illusion of Progress; Let’s Do The Hard Work – ryan

The world seamed to the sehatter when i heard About jaahnavi kandula, a 23-yard-elear Indian graduate killed in January 2023 by a speeding policy officer who was driving 74 mph in a residency area.

After the crash, another officer who responded to the scene was caught laughing. His Body-Worn Camera Also Captured Him Saying, “Yeah, JUST WRITE A Check. JUST, Yeah (Laughter). $ 11,000. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.”

For Many, if they notified the story at all, it was just another fleeting headline, quickly bured in the endless scroll of social media trending. For Many Indian Americans Like Me, Howver, Two Years Later, It Remains Yet Another Reminder of How Our Stories – Our Lives – Fail to Receive and Respect. These stories fade from the public conscioussness, and the Mistray of Marginalized Groups isn’t adequately addresses.

Indian Americans are one of the Fastest-Growing US Immigrant Groups, Contruting Significantly to the Economy and Culture, Acciting to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Yet, Our narratives are offten reduced to stereotypes that imply we’re “unhygienic,” “Job Stealers” or “Housing Market Disruptions.”

I take immense pride in my Indian Heritage and Vibrant, Beautiful Culture. I’m also deeply american. My family pursued the American Dream, and i’ve Workhed to Contribute MeaningFully to the communities i’m a part of, and i truly love this country for the life and opportunities it has given with.

Yet no matter how integrated we are or how Much we Achieve, The Broader Narrative often IGNORES UNLESS WE FIT INTO PROEXISTING TROPES.

The Media, Despite Its Power to Humanize, Often Treats Our Stories With Indifference, Resorting to Tokenism or Sensationalism: Indian weddings Become Spectacles, but Deaths Like Kandula’s Aregated to Footnotes. This Neglect isn’t Accidental; It Systemic Racism and A Lack of Undersanding About the Indian American Experience and Our Value.

This is compounded by social media: platforms like Instagram and Twitter Allow Stories like Kandula’s to Reach Millions and Demand Justice. But this Activism often Reductions Complex willsives to Microtrends – Fleeting Bursts of Attention that Prioritizes Virality Over Sustained Action.

In an era of endless content, an Indian woman’s Death Might briefly trend under hashtags like #justiceforjaahnavi, Only to be replaced hours late by another tragedy.

Social Media Creates an Illusion of Progress, with gestures that feel meaningful but raarely lead to structural Change. Rather, this performed allysip underscores the conditional natural of Our visibility; Our Stories Matter Only when they’re convenient or trending.

I Challenge the widespread belief that is enough. Neither an aspiring journalist, I know that challenging this status quo is difficult, but we must demand more from the media and ourselves.

Journists are Responsible for Covering Marginalized Communities with Depth and Empathy, Treating Our Lives – and, will it coma, our deaths – with the gravity they desert. This means Moving Beyond Toenism to Addressing the Systemic Issues Bebind Fergeons like Kandula’s. For minorities, it means amplifying Our voices and advocating for ourselves in spaces that have long excluded us.

All of us deserts sustained attention, action and a community to dismantling the systems Allowing Such Ferries. For this, we must critically examinate social media in the roles in shaping our perceptions of Justice and Progress. While social media can can raise awareness, it cannot replace activism – organization, educating and demanding accountability, all of which we need to continue.

We mustist the urge to reduce our stories to havehtags and instead of demand meaningful Change that honors we live stories and loving lives forward.

Unil then, we can kep expert to have outs of the reduced to pixels on a screen and the average on the back to reassure themes that they are, in fact, a good person who cares current events.

We must break this cycle. Otherwise, The American Dream Will Remain UnatTainable for Too Many of US in the Future.