Yes, it IS genocide and yes, you SHOULD care

Published on March 3, 2005 By Angloesque In Current Events

This is Sudan. Many of us aren't super great at geography, so here's some perspective for you:

This is what's happening in that country right now:

"Every single day you go out to see another burned village, and more dead bodies," he said. "And the children - you see 6-month-old babies that have been shot, and 3-year-old kids with their faces smashed in with rifle butts." --Brian Steidle, former African Union team monitor. Read more about him in Kristof's article in the NYT: Link

What does it take to mobilize you? Do you have to be inundated by television images? Tough, then, because that isn't happening. Do you have to see pictures of starving or dead children? That's not happening, either, at least not on any widescale front. And I'm not going to manipulate you by bombarding you with them. Do you just need the facts? Here:

--The janjaweed is a militia financed by the Sudanese government. It is made up of Muslim Arabs who are raping, murdering, torturing, and displacing thousands of black (and also Muslim) Sudanese.
--Official reports keep the numbers in low five figures; unofficial estimations put the number killed at over 300,000, but a more accurate number probably rests around 150,000 to 200,000.
--About 1.6 million people have been displaced from their homes, either forcibly or out of fear.
--The Sudanese government has done little, if anything, to make things stop.
--The American press barely touches this issue. Apparently fucking Michael Jackson is bigger news.

I'm not going to mollycoddle any of you by saying, "And you get to sleep in your warm bed" or "look at the children" or that stuff. You have to look at it logically as well as emotionally. If you want to be prompted by your emotions--fine, but carry it to your brain. You have to realize that this is wrong--of all things in the world that fall on a greyscale, this is black and white. Ethnic cleansing is WRONG. Killing people because of their skin color or their beliefs or because they're just "different" is wrong.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
For starters, write. Write on your blog. Write to your parents, your children, your congresspeople, your local media station to ask why they're not covering this. Get the word out and increase awareness.

Volunteer, if you have the time and means and qualifications. Many organizations, however, don't need field volunteers as much as they need office volunteers. It feels menial but it still helps.

Donate. Doctors Without Borders (www.msf.org), Oxfam, ADRA, Save the Children--they're all there right now, and they need support. If you're not in a position to volunteer--and let's face it, would they even take us if we could?--then lend your support with money, no matter how little. If you're not sure about a charity, check it out first. Hell, check it out anyway. Go to www.give.org and check out a report.

Care. Someone I know who cared only enough to talk about it brought this subject to my awareness. It's all about getting the word out and getting help. Look how much money we raised--and how fast we raised it--for the tsunami victims. But that was easier--we had pictures. We had media coverage.

For Sudan, for the people in Darfur, we need to make the coverage ourselves.

Comments (Page 2)

Angloesque

on Mar 06, 2005

So, um, this may be really hypocritical of me, but what good does pointing fingers at the UN or Europe do? If they're not helping, doesn't it make more sense to find some who are? I guess all this talk is at least a level of awareness, so I should shut up. But it bugs me that we armchair QBs sit back and explain what's wrong instead of doing something to make it right.

My idealistic $0.02.

-A.

dharmagrl

on Mar 06, 2005

Then screw the UN. If they're not going to help, then work through other means. But don't get caught in the quagmire of pointing fingers instead of doing something.

Ahh, the beauty of beaurocracy.

Your words make me want to rise up out of my mundane existence and go kick some ass. Actually, it's not your words, but the atrocities that occur daily in that country.
We're all cool btw.

ParaTed2k

on Mar 06, 2005

Then screw the UN. If they're not going to help, then work through other means. But don't get caught in the quagmire of pointing fingers instead of doing something.

We said that about Iraq and it has taken the last two years to live it down.

There are too many nations who are willing to put all their eggs in the UN basket. Once the UN has spoken, there seems to be little room left for discussion. Look at what happened to the SARS "epidemic" in Toronto after the WHO cleared it. I bet that if the UN had have said, "It appears the effects of the Tsunami weren't as bleak as projections claimed", the press and the "powers that be" would have moved on without giving it a second thought.

I'm not pointing fingers here, merely pointing out the realities of the international disaster (natural or manmade) "relief".

Dr Guy

on Mar 07, 2005

It points out, correctly, that while the US does a lot, it cannot do it all by itself. If we are to stop this type of horrors, then the first on the front line nations should be the neighbors, and barring them, then at least the other First world COuntries. The pointing of fingers will not accomplish anything, but it should shame France and the others into at least acting. Sadly, it will not.

dynamaso

on Mar 09, 2005

What a timely post. Oxfam is my charity of choice and I'm pleased they are doing work in Sudan. It is a shame the world can't rally to help the people of this country like they've helped the people of the Tsunami-struck areas.

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