DEI's "White American Savior Complex" is Wrong

    “Through our thoughtfully curated curriculum, coordinate program, and array of extra- and co-curricular activities, students gain exposure to a wide variety of perspectives, experiences, and ideas.”
                   -DEI page of the NCS website

    My experience in CELS did not fulfill the goal of exposing students to a wide variety of perspectives, experiences and ideas. In fact, it seemed as if the main problem was in fact the lack of diversity of perspectives. These DEI classes primarily focused on racial diversity and spent significantly less time focusing on intellectual diversity. 
    One example was the class during which we learned about the “White and American savior complex”. This is when a White or American person seeks to help another non-White person in a foreign country, not out of compassion, but out of the feeling of superiority. The details of this complex were explained through a video that emphasized its negative effects. This video portrayed a conversation between a man talking to a class of American high school students and asking them if they volunteered over the summer in other countries. A girl raised her hand and admitted that she had gone to India during her summer break to help girls who lacked education opportunities. Inexplicably, the man in the video seemed to condemn her for helping girls in India because “there are problems in your own communities”; the American girl should have helped American women instead because there are problems in America too.  
    Once the video had ended, some of the class spoke up to voice their opinions. For one, we found no issue with the American girl helping Indian women. According to the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report from the World Economic Forum, out of 148 economies, India ranked 131 in gender equality while the U.S ranked 42. This is not to say that Americans do not have to work on addressing gender inequality in our own communities, but that the American girl should not have been shunned for trying to help women from international communities who might be more directly affected by gender inequality. Once my peers had brought up this point, the teacher told us that what we had said was fair and that we didn’t have to accept the video’s opinion but that this was just one opinion that they were showing us. However, that one opinion was the only opinion they showed us, therefore highlighting the lack of diverse perspectives. 
    Furthermore, the concept of the “American savior complex” was problematic to me. As Americans, we are fortunate to have opportunities that may not be available to others. While helping our communities should be a priority for young Americans, we do not need to be ashamed for trying to help international communities with more immediate challenges. In fact, NPR states: “USAID provides humanitarian and development assistance in over 100 countries”.  What these American organizations provide for our neighbors is one of the many things that make us great, and I believe that one of the biggest mistakes the current president has made was to cut funding to USAID and non-profit organizations. As a result of this defunding, immediate impact has been felt on a global scale. 
    Critical medical facilities have been shut down all across the world, HIV prevention treatment research has come to a dead stop in South Africa, “secret schools” in Afghanistan which had been set up under the Taliban’s reign to illegally educate hundreds of girls after sixth grade have been suspended, vaccines and food security are now scarce and almost unavailable to communities in Thailand, and the list goes on. Is it better that we turn inward and not try to help other nations? This “American savior complex” has no consideration for the great impact our country has on communities all over the world and now that aid is being cut, the consequences are being felt by the most vulnerable. Service shouldn’t be limited to common nationality or race. America is a great country and in no way void of problems, but these DEI classes shouldn’t guilt us for a made up complex attacking our nationality.

Sources: 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/25/uganda-usaid-cuts-photo-essay
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgqdneev1no