The Danger Of Indifference

This is heartbreaking. I held off on writing about it, hoping for a miracle that was not to be.

A 2-year-old Chinese girl who was struck twice by hit-and-run drivers while more than a dozen bystanders ignored her plight has died, Chinese media report.

The incident, caught on surveillance video, quickly spread on the Internet in China and triggered national soul-searching over the callous indifference.

The Xinhua news agency says Wang Yue, known as "Yue Yue," died of brain failure at a hospital in Guangdong Province.

Xinhua says the video shows that 18 people, either walking on or bicycles, passed the girl on the pavement in a well-lighted market area without stopping.

I have read many comments about this tragedy, one of them being "well, that wouldn't happen here in the States."  Allow me to correct that misconception:

There was the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese, killed outside her apartment.  It took her several minutes to die, but neighbors didn't want to get involved.  Her murderer ran away, then came back to finish when he saw he would not be interrupted.

Or if you prefer a more modern example, a pregnant woman was beaten to death outside of a court house and nobody lifted a finger to help.  One witness was outraged, but in no way realized they could have helped as well.

As as we reported yesterday, a five-year-old child crossed a busy four lane highway and no calls reported.

It doesn't matter where you live, it matters how you live.  We are responsible for our actions and our refusal to act as well.  A little girl died, and she might have died anyway.  But by refusing to stop and help, her death was guaranteed.  There is no such thing as too busy to help with circumstances that dire.  Our convenience in not getting involved pales when compared to the safety of another.  We must be better than this.