This is a reprint of an opinion article written for Southern's 'Accent' newspaper, published in March and part of a speech given at Emory University.
Images of starving men, women, children, their skin tightly clinging to their bones; mass graves of nameless bodies, camps where thousands, forced from their homes, occupy and live in the constant shadow of fear – one cannot help but be reminded of 1940s Europe and images of the Nazi Holocaust, but the images of those who suffer are not Jews, but Black Arabs of Darfur, and this is not 1940s Europe, but 2007 Sudan. “Never again.” was the cry of humanity after the Holocaust - a massive genocide taking the lives of Jews, Roma Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, conscientious objectors, and the mentally disabled. Since that time what has “Never Again” meant to the countless victims of the Armenian, Kurdish, Rwandan, or now Darfur genocide?
Our generation has been taught to “learn the lessons of the Holocaust,” lessons that demand our action when we know of genocide. In our lifetime we have lived through ethnic cleansing in Serbia, the annihilation of the Kurdish people of Iraq, and, more recently, the genocide in Rwanda. Learning from the fallings of previous generations to act on behalf of the millions who perished in those human atrocities and prevent further terror, our generation faces a similar trial of human will. We are confronted with the first genocide of the twenty-first century – Darfur, Sudan.
The conflict in Darfur is multifarious and complex, but that does not mean we are helpless to aid those affected by this genocide or that we are unable to prevent further atrocities. The Darfur region, about the size of Texas, is home to racially mixed tribes of settled peasants, who identify as African, and nomadic herders, who identify as Arab. The majority of people in both groups are Muslim. The history of neglect by the Khartoum-based government has left people throughout Sudan poor and voiceless and has caused conflict throughout the country. In February 2003, frustrated by adverse poverty, famine, drought, and continual neglect by the government, two Darfurian rebel groups launched an uprising against the government.
The Sudanese government responded with a scorched-earth campaign, enlisting the help of a militia of Arab nomadic tribes in the region against innocent civilians who lived in Darfur. These militia forces, sometimes referred to as the Janjaweed and the Sudanese military have used rape, displacement, organized starvation, and mass murder to kill 450,000 and displace 2.5million. Violence, disease, and displacement continue to kill hundreds of innocent Darfurians every day. Some of the victims have escaped to the neighboring country of Chad, but most are trapped inside Darfur. Thousands die each month from the effects of inadequate food, water, heath care, and shelter in a harsh desert environment. All are afraid to return home because the countryside is not safe.
The generation that lived through the Holocaust answered for their compliancy to the atrocities of Nazi Germany, “Had we only known.” Well, my friends, WE KNOW, so what will be our response to the genocide in Darfur. Gandhi once spoke, “All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of the others.” When the government of Sudan failed to do what government primarily exists to do, protect their citizen, we must respond by uniting against genocide and boldly declaring, “Not On Our Watch!” The people of Darfur are helpless to change their plight; we must be their voice in this conflict, we must demand action on the part of the international community.
Southern’s campus is responding to the genocide in Darfur by raising awareness and rallying students, faculty, and community members to action. Students have formed a chapter of STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) and have planed activities and events that will help raise awareness. I would encourage you to become involved with STAND and to log onto http://www.savedarfur.org/ to learn more about this genocide and how you can make a difference. Our generation has proven itself unwilling to join the ranks of past generations who have fallen so often on the wrong side of history. We realize our importance in the international community and unite with students across the globe in demanding prompt action by the international community. We take a stand not only for the 450,000 that have died, but for the 100 that have died today, and for the hundred that will die tomorrow. We are the voices of the people of Darfur. As Isaiah wrote may we, “learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and plead the widow’s cause.”
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