By now we have all seen the horrific images coming from Ukraine since Russia launched a military invasion on Feb. 24. The image of a pregnant woman gripping her bloody belly as she is evacuated from the rubble that was once a maternity hospital. The video of a father squeezing his wife and kids as tight as he can before they say goodbye, not knowing if they will ever see each other again. The images of massive lines of Ukrainians desperately trying to flee their war-torn home. These images pouring out of Ukraine are relentless and horrifying, and there are no signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin will let up any time soon. The conflict is worsening, and the number of casualties and refugees increases each and every day. There have been more than 2,400 civilian deaths and nearly 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees estimated since the day Russia decided to invade the sovereign nation of Ukraine.

The global unity that has ensued after this invasion is reassuring. We are seeing Western nations come together in support of freedom and democracy. This global solidarity has largely stemmed from the human rights catastrophe unfolding within Ukraine’s borders, as Putin seems to have no regard for the rules of war and no remorse for attacking civilians. However, the way Western media is covering these events seems to present a clear racial bias. While there have been many wars and conflicts in the past decade, this is the biggest conflict in Europe since the end of World War ll. Ukraine is seen by many as a civilized or westernized European country, which seems to make the events unfolding here that much more horrific in the eyes of the West.

I am by no means saying that the coverage Ukraine is getting right now is wrong or undeserving, but simply that it is our responsibility to be aware of the racial bias in these reports. I do not even believe that this bias is conscious most of the time, but it is undoubtedly present. As of 2020, there were an estimated 82.4 million individuals globally who had been displaced from their homes and over 26.4 million refugees. However, it seems that Ukrainian refugees are viewed differently in the eyes of the world. One news presenter for Al Jazeera explained that Ukrainians are “prosperous, middle-class people” that were “obviously” not the same as refugees who flee the Middle East. He also claimed that “they look like any European family that you’d live next door to.” The fact that this presenter explicitly drew a distinction between “prosperous” Europeans and those fleeing the Middle East clearly demonstrates racial bias, implying that the wealth status of an individual makes the events happening to them more or less significant.

It seems that because Ukrainians are white, middle-class people, their lives are worth more than refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East. A French reporter stated, “We’re not talking here about Syrians fleeing the bombing of the Syrian regime backed by Putin, we’re talking about Europeans leaving in cars that look like ours to save their lives.” This quote implies that because Ukrainians are predominantly white and drive the same cars we might drive, their escape from Ukraine is more important than the Syrian people’s fight to save their lives from the very same aggressor. Often, when a conflict seems closer to home or when you can relate more to the victim of a conflict, it is easier to sympathize with them. However, it is dangerous to discredit the lives of refugees who are not white and section them off as “other.” An ITV news reporter noted, “This is not a developing, Third World nation. This is Europe.” While I understand that this conflict might seem even more startling because we are not accustomed to conflict of this scale in Europe, the language being used surrounding the conflict often portrays the lives of white Europeans as more important than the lives of those living elsewhere in the world. Nobody, no matter where they live, deserves to flee for their life. Another startling quote by the Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov stated that Ukrainian refugees are intelligent and educated people as opposed to “the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists.” Implying that nonwhite refugees do not have a clear identity and are possibly dangerous is a clear stereotype and one that is blatantly racist.

There are countless quotes like these that are harmful and can perpetuate hateful biases. The Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association put out a statement calling out this bias, writing, “This type of commentary reflects the pervasive mentality in Western journalism of normalizing tragedy in parts of the world such as the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Latin America. It dehumanizes and renders their experience with war as somehow normal and expected.” European countries that have been against welcoming refugees in the past are suddenly opening up their borders. We can look to Poland as a clear example of this racial bias playing out in real time. Poland has welcomed millions of Ukrainian refugees into their borders, whereas only a few years ago the country was turning away many Syrians, Afghans or Iraqis. One refugee from Sudan was beaten up and called racial slurs at the border of Poland, while Ukrainian refugees are treated to live music and a warm bed when they cross the border. Albagir, the refugee from Sudan, asked, “Why don’t we see this caring and this love? Why? Are Ukrainians better than us? I don’t know. Why?” Both these refugees are seeking to escape their war-torn homes and simply find somewhere safe to live. Just because one is from Europe and one is not does not make the stark unequal treatment justifiable in any way.

While our attention is, and should continue to be, on Ukraine and the plight of this sovereign nation to hold back a power-hungry dictator, we must also be aware of the biases that come with Western media. No one deserves to fear for their life and be displaced from their homes no matter the color of their skin. Empathy for the lives of other human beings should not be selective to those individuals’ appearances. We must stand with all refugees seeking a safe place to live peacefully. We must continue to educate ourselves and continue to strive to be more understanding and compassionate. We must strive to identify the bias within the media that we consume and form our own opinions on the matter. We must treat humans as humans no matter where they were born or the color of their skin. My prayers are with the people of Ukraine and with all who seek to live peacefully.

Eve Marks is a junior double-majoring in environmental studies and philosophy, politics and law.