Abstract:
Human rights violations are often evident when considering many organizations have ulterior motives when aiding citizens of Latin American countries; moreover, organizations such as mission trips unintentionally feed into the white savior complex. This concept states that white people perform acts in order to aide non-white citizens, despite being self-serving towards the white person. Our research methods include to aid with information on things such as Impure Altruism, and mission drift when pertaining to organizations such as nonprofits. We have also used concepts presented in International Issues 101, specifically around media portrayal, human rights, and human capacity. This is a contested topic, resulting in a serious divide in society between races in which white people claim that those who bring light to the topic of the white savior complex, particularly people of color, are committing reverse racism. There are several ways in which Americans learn the ways of the white savior complex, those include: volunteering abroad, the ways in which the government covers foreign policy, the education of world history in classroom settings, and the way Hollywood portrays eastern countries. In conclusion, this all leads to the process of dehumanization and larger global issues of relation and empathy.