Sudan Genocide Q and A

What has the US done up to this point to change the situation in Darfur? What is your opinion on their reaction?

Not much There have been several bills passed that are really just face-saving actions. Here they are: (I have a little commentary in caps locks below)

Declaration of Genocide in Darfur (H.Con.Res.467)

Passed September 7, 2004 in the House of Representatives

The House unanimously passed H.Con.Res.467 to declare atrocities occurring in Darfur genocide. In addition, it called upon the US to do the following:



assume responsibility to act and stop genocide as mandated by the 1948 UN Genocide Convention;

consider leading a multilateral or even unilateral intervention to stop violence in Darfur;

impose sanctions, visa bans, and asset freezes on the Sudanese Congress and individual leaders of genocide in Darfur;

establish a Darfur Resettlement, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Fund so that those driven off their land may return and begin to rebuild their communities.



Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004 (S.2781)

Signed into law on December 23, 2004

Introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act passed unanimously in the Senate and was subsequently passed by a voice vote in the House of Representatives. Among its provisions, this bill:

authorizes the President to address the humanitarian and human rights crisis in the Darfur region and eastern Chad

makes assistance for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement contingent upon the Government of Sudan:

demobilizing the Janjaweed militias

cooperating with aid workers

permitting the return of displaced persons to their homes

installing a new coalition government based upon the Nairobi Declaration on the Final Phase of Peace in the Sudan

directs the President to implement sanctions in support of the peace in Darfur



WHILE THE PRESIDENT MAY HAVE THIS POWER HE HAS NEVER USED IT NONE OF THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.


Amendment to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (HR 1268) Amendment approved May 1, 2005 by a Joint Conference Committee
HR 1268 made law May 11, 2005 when signed by the President

Contained in HR 1268 are amendments allocating funds to humanitarian and security efforts in Darfur, including:

$45 million for international disaster and famine assistance for Sudan

$55 million for the peacekeeping operations in Darfur and the establishment and operation of a Sudan war crimes tribunal



HOWEVER __ MOST HUMANITARIAN GROUPS HAVE LEFT SUDAN BECAUSE OF THE DANGER. FUNDING THEM ISNT ALWAYS EFFECTIVE BUT IT REMAINS NECESSARY. THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY ISNT ENOUGH.



National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Darfur
Senate Resolution 186
Proposed June 16, 2005 by Senators Brownback (R-KS) and Sen. Corzine (D-NJ)
Passed July 1, 2005 in Senate by unanimous consent.


House Resolution 333
Proposed June 20, 2005 by Representatives Payne (D-NJ), Tancredo (R-CO), Wexler (D-FL), Wolf (R-VA), Lantos (D-CA), Smith (D-NJ), Rangel (D-NY), Conyers (D-MI), Lee (D-CA)
Passed July 11, 2005 in House by unanimous consent

In both the House and Senate, these bills call for a National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Darfur. They encourage churches, synagogues, mosques, religious institutions and all Americans to consider Darfur in their activities on this weekend and to pray for an end to the genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.



SORRY, BUT I DONTTHINK NATIONAL PRAYER IS THE BEST SOLUTION EITHER. HOWEVER, THIS HELPS SPREAD AWARENESS



Darfur Peace and Accountability Act



introduced on June 30, 2005, by Senators Brownback (R-KS) and Corzine (D-NJ), and Representatives Hyde (R-IL), Payne (D-NJ), Smith (R-NJ), Lantos (D-CA), Royce (R-CA), Tancredo (R-CO), Wolf (R-VA), Jackson-Lee (D-TX), and Capuano (D-MA).



The two bills (HR 3127 in the House and S 1462 in the Senate) have received bipartisan support, but with attention focused elsewhere, congressional action on this legislation remains uncertain.



Affirms Genocide is occurring and Calls for:

Expansion of the size and mandate of the African Union to provide protection to civilians and aid workers

Assistance to the African Union force, including NATO logistical support

Asset and travel sanctions against individuals designated by the president as responsible for atrocities in Darfur

Appointment of a presidential envoy for Sudan

Additional U.S. and U.N. sanctions, including denial of entry at U.S. ports to ships involved in Sudans oil sector



AGAIN, WHILE THIS POWER MAY EXIST, NONE OF IT HAS HAPPENED. THE BULK DEPENDS ON INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BUT RUSSIA AND CHINA HAVE A TENDENCY TO VETO ALL EFFORTS. ON THE FLIP SIDE, THIS WEEK THE UN AGREED TO PUT SANCTIONS ON FOUR MEN RUSSIA AND CHINA DIDNT VETO BUT ABSTAINED


Bush recently asked for $389 million for Darfur: $161 million for peacekeeping, $150 million for food aid, and $78 million for non-food and reconstruction.



2. Do you think that the foreign policy response the US has had in the Darfur situation follows a pattern of response towards African nations? (or, does there seem to be a general response to tragedy in African nations that differs from the attention given to others, in Europe for example?)



Yes, and I think it has a lot to do with money and race. I think that we have little investment in Africa and therefore have no economic reasons to assist in tragedy. Further, I think we live in a society that is racist to the point of making African people committing acts of violence normal/natural/innate and therefore simply the way it is as opposed to violence in Europe. Look at what happened with the French riots everyone saw it as an anomaly. However, with the genocide in Sudan, or the struggles in Uganda, there is no reaction because people think that is how their culture is. We are a racist country, and our foreign policy reflects that.

3. Why do you think that the US is unwilling to call the events in Sudan "genocide?"

They have called the actions in Sudan a genocide but havent acted. I think it is because of a lack of public interest in the effort and a lack of economic gain for the US if we enter Sudan. I do think that, if people make more noise, this could change.

4. Do you think that race, racism, discrimination and/or religious affiliation has influenced the actions of the US in Sudan? In addition to the race issue above, in regards to religion, I dont know. The bulk of Darfurans are either Christian or members of local religious groups. The bulk of the Sudanese Govt/Janjaweed are Muslim. Im not sure how the US religiosity is playing a role in this. It seems like our nation doesnt have a problem fighting a crusade against Islam, so Im not sure that is the problem here. I defer to my answer to number two.

5. Is there a difference between the US' foreign policy response to tragedy in African /Latin American as compared to that seen in Europe, the Middle East or Asia?

There is an incredibly different level of policy. I think it goes back to number one and two. I think it is about money and racism we arent getting as much wealth from having ties with Africa (but we can exploit people fairly easily). However, business ties in Latin American and Asia bring a lot of wealth. Further, I think race has a huge play in this and, in addition to what I said earlier if our society is already objectifying African peoples (dehumanizing them), than treating people in African different than those of other nations isnt a stretch. There is no need to explain differences in tx if people dont see Africans as like us if they dont see Africans as human.


Thank you so much for ur help Krissy...ttyl

Hope that helped. I was kind of in a rush, so I may not have been as eloquent as I would have liked.

Peace, k

Affirmative Action

OK, so I'm ready to talk about what Affirmative Action really does. I'm tired of calls of 'reverse discrimination' or 'reverse racism'. And, I am certainly tried of arguements that race shouldn't be a factor in admissions. Here we go...

The following is the origional text calling for Affirmative Action, part of executive order 10925. I put the call in bold. Note, there are no calls for quotas nor 'reverse discrimination'. (http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/35th/thelaw/eo-10925.html)

PART III-OBLIGATIONS OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS
SUBPART A-CONTRACTORS' AGREEMENTS
SECTION 301. Except in contracts exempted in accordance with section 303 of this order, all government contracting agencies shall include in every government contract hereafter entered into the following provisions:

"In connection with the performance of work under this contract, the contractor agrees as follows:

"(1) The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin. The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin. Such action shall include, but not be limited to, the following: employment, upgrading, demotion or transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; and selection for training, including apprenticeship. The contractor agrees to post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices to be provided by the contracting officer setting forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.

------

Following this order, Johnson discussed the reason for the order in a speech at Howard University:

"You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: 'now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.' You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe you have been completely fair . . . This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity—not just legal equity but human ability—not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result."

And, finally the program was enforced through Exectutive Order 11246: http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/35th/thelaw/eo-11246.html Note that there is no change to the origional call.

While, not calling for quotas, the Bakke case in 1978 made the practice of using quota's illegal.

Again, in 1995, Clinton reaffirmed the illegality of quotas stating a call for the elimination of any program that: "(a) creates a quota; (b) creates preferences for unqualified individuals; (c) creates reverse discrimination; or (d) continues even after its equal opportunity purposes have been achieved."

So, as we can see, the claims made my many are directly false. Now, the issue is whether or not race should be a factor in admissions.

It seems quite clear to me that the experience of folks of color has the potential to make them stronger people, harder workers, and more well rounded than whites. It seems to me that when you grow up faced with racism, discrimination - both blatant and systemic - you would develop strength of character and aquire additional skills.

Studying racism has shown many of the "disadvantages" racism gives to whites: http://lipmagazine.org/articles/featbrasel_145.shtml (text below) How can we argue these shouldn't be considered in applications/hiring processes?

That is my peice for the day.

Here is Wise's text, there is more in the article:

On a basic level, one might consider the harms that come from racial privilege if, by virtue of that privilege, one remains isolated from others. So, to live in an almost all white neighborhood, thanks to past and present housing bias, as about 85% of whites do, means huge advantages in terms of wealth and assets, but also means that we're cut off from the experiences, cultures and contributions of people of color—to our own detriment in terms of being functionally literate and interculturally competent for a country that is increasingly non-white, and a world that never was white to begin with. And while that isolation and ignorance might not have mattered in an earlier era, now it does.


Even more though, I think a system of privilege often has the effect of setting up those who receive certain advantages for a fall. What I mean is that dominant group members quite logically come to expect certain things, and to have a sense of entitlement as a result of their relatively privileged status. And that can leave a person unprepared to deal with setbacks: personal, professional, or whatever else. The coping skills that oppressed groups have to develop to survive, are not as "needed" for dominant groups, and the result is sometimes tragic.


I started thinking about this in the wake of the multiple white suburban school shootings, and also data I was coming across that indicated disproportionate pathological and dysfunctional behavior among whites in various categories.


I mean, general crime rates are disproportionate in communities of color and poor communities, due to socioeconomic conditions that are correlated with crime. Yet specific crimes, like serial killing, mass murder, child sexual abuse, or drug use, and other dysfunctions, like suicide, eating disorders, or alcoholism are mostly found in the white middle class. And whereas everyone, right or left, would seek to explain "why" in the case of dark and poor folks—the left saying economics and structural causes, the right saying genes or cultural flaws—when it comes to white and middle class dysfunction, the question, "why," isn't asked.

Or if it is, the "causes" are inevitably located externally—the video games, the music, the movies—and never viewed as possibly intrinsic to the group in question or the environment in which that group finds itself. But I wonder, "why the disconnect?" Why are some crimes or dysfunctions disproportionately dark and poor, and others disproportionately white and middle class or above?


I would suggest that part of the answer is that in this culture, whites are dominant, and tend to develop a sense of control, entitlement and expectation as a result, unlike non-dominant groups, who through experience know that obstacles and barriers are part of their everyday experience. And since dominant group members have not had to deal with major obstacles to our advance, or in terms of our being accepted and valued in society, we really haven't had to develop those coping skills. So when the going gets tough, so to speak, we, more so than others, are more likely to react in a manner that seems so bizarre that it literally defies logic.


So if you look at the various pathologies that are disproportionately found in the white community, what are they? Almost all pathologies about "control" and rage—serial killing, mass murder, sexual sadism on the one hand; and then internally directed control pathologies on the other hand, like suicide, eating disorders, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc. The pathologies that are disproportionately in communities of color are not about control in the same way—they are largely what could be called "survival" pathologies, and pathologies related to deprivation or perceived deprivation.

So what I am trying to ask is whether there may be dysfunctional aspects to white, middle class culture—and the advantages that come from being white, male and middle class—in terms of building up expectations, generating a sense of entitlement, and causing a sense of invincibility that leads folks to let down their guards to serious problems or pathologies?


In other words, is the system of racial privilege that benefits whites so much ultimately planting the seeds of those same white folks' self-destruction and social entropy?

Urgent Action Needed

I realize that not all of the people who are reading this go to AU (but maybe you can write a letter as a concerned citizen). We just really need your help here. Any questions/comments/concerns contact me kh4989a@american.edu.
peace, krissy

Hello All,

I’m writing to you with a plea for action.

Aramark is considering changing the shifts for most of the custodial staff to be overnight. While this may not seem like a big deal to us, it is a huge problem for people with families.

One of my friends is a single mom with 4 kids. Her kids are young and in school, they need her at home at night.

Another one of my friends has a sick child, she needs to be there to care for him in the evenings, and to be there if he needs her at night.

This move will destroy families and lives. Not only do we fail to pay our custodial staff fairly, give them poor (and expensive) health care, and prevent them from having access to classes (like the rest of the staff), but this adds another layer of oppression.

I am urging you to write a letter to the Aramark staff, the president, the Board of Trustees, and the workers’ union representative demanding this move be rejected. Here is the contact information:

Aramark Staff:
Audre Terry (Director of Housekeeping) - aterry@american.edu

Interim President:
Cornelius Kerwin president@american.edu

Board of Regents Representatives:
Graduate students – Peter Brusoe - peter.brusoe@american.edu
Student Government – Kyle Taylor - kt8585a@american.edu

Union Representative:
Maria Diaz: diazm@seiu82.org

Thanks for your time,
krissy haltinner

Bono's Speech

Here is a space where you can watch the video - it is SO worth it: http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2006/02/02/bono.speaks.cnn&wm=10
Here is a transcript copy: http://www.data.org/archives/000774.php

Here is what I find to be the most powerful part... you really should watch it:

Because you’re good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can’t afford it.
But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about Justice and Equality.

Because there's no way we can look at what’s happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn’t accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the Tsunami. 150, 000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, “mother nature”. In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it’s a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It’s annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren’t they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, “Equal?” A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, “Yeah, ‘equal,’ that’s what it says here in this book. We’re all made in the image of God.”

And eventually the Pharaoh says, “OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews—but not the blacks.”

“Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man.”

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.

We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than two million Americans… left and right together… united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King—mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market… that’s a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents… That’s a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents… that’s a justice issue.
And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That’s why I say there’s the law of the land… and then there is a higher standard. There’s the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it’s OK to protect our agriculture but it’s not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that’s what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won’t, at least. Will yours?

Funding Says it All

This morning I was at the gym, reading the Post Express as usual. On page 5 I noted the blurb at the top stating "1%: The Proportion of the federal budget...Bono has challenged the U.S. government to give to the world's poor...would equal about $26 billion".

The headline just below reads:
"Bush Asks $120B for Wars"

With my excellent math skills that calculates to 4.6% of the U.S. budget.

Apparently that means that Bush, and his god-loving self, feel that War is worth nearly 5 times as much as fighting poverty.

Wonder what his "Moral Majority" would say about that. But, I guess that since it isn't hurting the 'sanctity of marriage', isn't 'harming the economy', isn't a 'threat to the nation' and isn't hurting our 'freedom' it doesn't matter.

Maybe I should talk to him about how poverty is economically instable and impermanent as we are producing it globally. Perhaps he would listen if I told him that poverty is a threat to security. I wonder if he would even care to note that his own neo-fascist laws limit freedom.

I wont even start on his religion.

I think he knows. I think he and his pals just don't care.