This week we saw the launch of a beautiful public service campaign aimed at combatting what has become rampant racism and discrimination. Across Kuwait, on the front pages of newspapers, on billboards and all over social media, were advertisements highlighting one of the most important articles of the Kuwaiti Constitution. I repeat it here for those who missed it:1.    All people are equal in human dignity and in public rights and duties before the law, without distinction to race, origin, language, or religion.2.    Personal liberty is guaranteed.In several versions of the ad, photos of locals standing with expats highlighted our interdependence, a clear message that we need to co-exist peacefully and respectfully. The message is much needed in a time when even lawmakers, political leaders who should be serving as role models for their communities, feel free to denigrate and humiliate expats.It's easy to understand why people are frustrated. Kuwait does have a lot of challenges and truthfully there are thousands of expats here who do not contribute anything to the society and who take advantage of Kuwait's social services.But as we've learned with Trumpism, painting an entire group of people by the actions of a few does nothing to better a society and can only harm it. There are 10 times more expats here who love Kuwait, who grew up here or who work here and believe in contributing to the country's long term development.This piece, though, isn't about defending expats.It is instead a request for those who believe in Article 29 to do more. We can all do something - however small and personal. We can refuse to think along racist lines, refuse to judge people based on their nationality and instead consider the quality of their character. We can invite our domestic helpers to eat dinner with the family, ask her how her day went. We can teach our children to speak a different language and make friends with kids of different backgrounds.We can build bridges between different communities. It's easy to claim that locals are the only ones who are racist but I can attest from personal experience that almost every community in Kuwait is silo'd at least partially due to their own choice. There are plenty of expats here who prefer to live in a bubble of people of their own origin rather than take the time and effort to make friends with people from other places.In short, we can all be role models for compassion, cooperation and positive interaction.Public service announcements only make a difference when they change people's behavior. Remember the Tarsheed campaign from several years back? I wonder how many people have reduced their personal energy consumption as a consequence.The government can buy public relations inserts in global newspapers but the truth will out, as they say. If a society is unjust, no one is fooled.As the Article 29 ads make clear, the spirit of Kuwait - how its perceived by the people who live here and by the rest of the world - is up to each and every one of us.By Jamie Etheridgeetheridge@kuwaittimes.com