Two years ago today, more than 200 Nigerian girls were abducted by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.
More importantly, May 3 will mark two years since the 2014 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a hideous celebration of unearned vanity where journalists and politicians pretend to be celebrities by mingling with actual celebrities and drinking cocktails at mansions in Georgetown.
That great mingling of minds and moral righteousness would inspire one of the most self-indulgent displays of celebrity activism in recent memory: #BringBackOurGirls.
Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families. It's time to #BringBackOurGirls. -mo pic.twitter.com/glDKDotJRt
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) May 7, 2014
For several weeks, the hashtag was the most popular way for politicians, celebrities, and right-thinking individuals around the world to publicly signal, with minimal effort, their opposition to bad things.
A lot of celebrities took part in the campaign, while it lasted. Some of them held signs while wearing tuxedos on the red carpet. Some waved signs at cars, while others took their tops off.
Celebrity men show support for 200+ Nigerian schoolgirls abducted 2 wks ago #RealMenDontBuyGirls #BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/3FAxnVnyLP
— Marie Delcioppo (@marie_delcioppo) May 11, 2014
Male celebrities also held signs, and showed real bravery. Their signs read: “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls.” It must have been really embarrassing for the terrorists when they found out.
The orgy of self-congratulation lasted about a month, in which time Boko Haram had kidnapped even more girls, and embarked on “what may be the deadliest killing spree by a single terrorist group since the Sept. 11 attacks,” according to NBC News.
What’s the situation in Nigeria like now, nearly two years after the hashtag stopped trending?
Not so great, as it turns out. Boko Haram has started forcing kidnapped girls who refuse to marry its fighters to become suicide bombers. In February, two young female bombers killed 58 and injured 78 at a camp intended to serve as a haven for those displaced by terrorist violence.
Boko Haram, which is quite fond of these “suicide” attacks, is increasingly enlisting children to blow themselves up. According to a report from UNICEF, the group carried out 44 “suicide” attacks involving children in 2015.
As horrible as that sounds, it’s important that we put this all into context. For several weeks in 2014, dozens of rich celebrities, and countless other difference makers around the world, were able to feel good about themselves and get lots of retweets.
As the President said today, we're proud to stand #UnitedForUkraine and bring the world together to speak w/one voice pic.twitter.com/v8haCIgYLL
— Marie Harf (@marieharf) March 26, 2014
The #BringBackOurGirls campaign accomplished precisely nothing, because as it turns out, actually #MakingADifference tends to require significantly more effort than simply tweeting a viral hashtag, watching the Daily Show, voting for Obama, and declaring yourself to be “on the right side of history.”
Regrettably, the Obama administration has embraced hashtag activism as a central comment of its foreign policy. When Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2014, for example, the United States responded by tweeting forcefully. #UnitedForUkraine didn’t last long as a hashtag, either. Two years later, Russia is still causing trouble in Ukraine, and everyone, including the White House, has lost interest.
Even ISIS is mocking us now.
