Americans (as a collective) for the most part are aloof from the suffering of others. They have an US and THEM mentality. When the tsunami hit, they were very slow to come up with a meaningful response financially, and the amount they were willing to give was very meagre, until after some criticism, the figure was revised. Even considering that, their people did not go to much lengths to aid the effort beyond what their government and NGOs involved in those things did. Take for instance the response in Canada, where private citizens donated more than the government, who proportionately was ranked I think third of all the donating nations. It even got to the point where the Red Cross was telling people they didn't need any more money.

Anyway, back on topic. America has inflicted suffering, physical pain in terms of wars and conflicts, like in Haiti and Venezuela, and economic pain, like in Cuba. They have ignored the suffering of the people of Darfur, because, well, because they were THEM, not US. With too much prosperity comes that sense of being above it all, now they have been brought back a little closer to Earth. 9/11 doesn't even count as suffering, because they didn't take the time to even look and say "Damn, this was our fault when you look at it", no, they went and blamed muslims and Saddam, even though they gave both Saddam and Osama the start and support they needed in the past, and their actions lead to the anti-American sentiment in the Middle East.

I was conflicted, and still am, because even though the nation needed to feel some pain, it was still my fellow human beings, and in most cases, my fellow black brothers and sisters, that were suffering. No one likes to see others suffer, even if sometimes it may serve a good cause in the long run.