| Monday, April 10, 2006 |
| Black Americans quiet on Darfur crisis |
It's true. I was surprised by the audience make up at Paul Rusesabagina's talk at Enoch Pratt the other day. Despite a very prominent African author, speaking in a predominantly black American city, in an inner city library, the audience was still more than 60% white.
The article provides a few possible explanations:
1. An overall lack of news media attention. True enough, sadly.
2. Black leaders' are too busy focusing on surviving critical domestic problems like crime, jobs, education, HIV, etc. Yep, that's certainly a very real problem.
3. The black community has a lack of focus on international issues. Ehh, I'm not so sure about this one, unless it's directly related to #1 and #2.
4. "The perception that the Darfur campaign is largely the province of the Jewish community." WTF??!!!! Do they really think that?? How could I have been completely and totally sidestruck by this. How can ANY ethnic or religious group "claim" a holocaust?? Sympathetic? Hell, yes, but to claim that the Jewish community "owns" this as "their" issue? Sorry - I ain't buying. And if that in fact is a reason why the black community isn't more involved in the Darfur issue? Then shame on them. Seriously. But I still don't buy it.
The article also points out that there was more of an awareness and involvement of the US black community when South African Apartheid was an issue 15 years ago. They may be right, but let's not forget that apartheidism in its most severe form - slavery - is an issue that only goes back in this country some 140 years, and many would argue (justifiably so), that apartheidism, albeit not government sanctioned, still exists in the US today in many respects, and they would not be wrong.
While I agree that the African American community is not as engaged in the Darfur crisis as I would imagine they would be, I'm still ashamed of my country as a whole for not being as outraged and engaged as they should be either. Let's not pick on an already unrepresented, and many times, underrespected group for not being more aware.
This is an issue that rises above race - it's genocide. And if you're not concerned, offended, and sickened by its implication, and the fact that nearly a half a million innocent people have been eliminated from the earth with no cause, other than their ethnic origin or the color of their skin, you should be. Everyone should be. |
posted by Broadsheet @ 6:04 PM   |
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