The tragedy in Darfur is continuing and my fear is that it is going to continue even in spite of the fact that high profile people such George Clooney are courageously standing up and asking the United States and the world to do something. Why will the tragedy continue? Because the genocide that is occurring is a complex issue that is hard to simplify given the fact that there is no great villain, who can be used to epitomize evil and given the fact that the people that are dying do not resemble most Americans. It is not a question of racism, but of identity and of images. The images that come from Darfur although they are graphic are not beautiful in the sense that they don't make human suffering compelling enough to make us watch them and decide that enough is enough. André Glucksmann accused the world last month in the height of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict to have different standards for constitute outrageous behavior and to make the willful choice to view some tragedies as greater than others. He was right. I am not saying that Darfur is the only tragedy the world should be paying attention to. I am forcibly arguing that by choosing to ignore Darfur and to focus on other tragedies the world is sending the loud and morally unacceptable message that genocide is not a crime against humanity, but something with which the world can live with provided that the people who are being disposables. After all, does the death of hundred of thousand of Black Sudanese changing the world?
Day 105 24/7 DC VIGIL for DARFUR; Day 35 HUNGER STRIKE (54 days so far this summer, with breaks); ARRESTED Sept 9th at White House with 29 others from Africa Action; http://wwww.standwithdarfurwhitehouseii.blogspot.com
THE ONLY HOPE FOR DARFUR: WE-THE-WORLD’S-PEOPLE. Duh.
It is said that the mark of truly being “crazy” is expecting different results from doing the same thing over and over and…. Ok, we needed to try some new approaches, hoping we could find a new formula for mass social change (stopping Genocide has NEVER been done); looking for an approach that would be comfortable, convenient, safe, executed from our computer terminal / phone / TV or office in some combination. The variations we’ve tried are: * Blame (Bush, UN, EU…) , * Emails, letters, postcards…,* Letting the Nonprofits do it, * Divestment. And the results are in. WE ARE NOT, STOPPING THE GENOCIDE!
You mean that the answer for Darfur is the same answer we found for…* Ending the Vietnam War, * Gaining Civil Rights in the US, * Gaining Women the right to Vote in the US, * Ending apartheid in South Africa, * Throwing off the British oppression at our start....?
Yup. No one else, nothing else can stop it, can save 4,000,000 in Concentration Camps in Sudan and Chad. The buck stops with WE-THE-WORLD’S-PEOPLE. Let’s stop talking and start - marching, demonstrating, sitting-in, hunger striking….
The next step is September 17th (SaveDarfur.org; DayForDarfur.org). BUT, then we need to be ready on SEPTEMBER 18th, 19th… AS LONG AS IT TAKES, WHATEVER IT TAKES.
Jay McGinley, jymcginley@cs.com
Posted by: Jay McGinley | Thursday, 14 September 2006 at 11:40 PM