Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Dafur: What does a black life mean to the United States Government?

The United States government is not doing anything different from its past and present foreign policy. The government has always been slow to react to the killing of black people. Yes, the murder of 200,000 people in Sudan was committed by other black people. America calls this Black on black crime. However, is this any reason for the United States not to intervene? Do our leaders know that over 2 million people have been displaced? Do they know that our African brothers and sisters will surely be affected by malnutrition and disease as a result of the human displacement which will result in more death? One would think that President Bush would have more to say other than, “Sudan's Darfur region has the chance to "begin anew" but the situation there remains dire.” To his credit President Bush did announce that the U.S. would send food shipments to Darfur and he has asked Congress to approve $225 million in emergency funding. Now, my questions are, Why has it taken so long for the government to get involved? Is the $225 million enough? Allow me to address the first question: The United States government is too busy addressing their insecurities i.e. snooping around in Iran’s business. The United States government is over extended in a war that appears to have no ending in sight. The United States government is politicizing a decision on border security. This is what our elected officials are doing while black people are being slaughtered.

Should our government be concerned with the Dafur genocide? Remember, these are Africans killing Africans. Keep in mind the value of a Jewish life did not mean too much to the US government for a long time during the Holocaust. Millions of Jews were killed before America provided some level of assistance. So, I ask again why should the United States intervene in Sudan. Many of us would say that it is the right thing and humanitarian thing to do. However, the officials making the decision may not truly care if a Sudanese is killed or not. This is not something I want to believe, but it could certainly be the case.

Finally, I end this commentary with where I began: What does a black life mean to the United States? Before you answer please remember that the United States government has been responsible for killing its own citizens: Black Americans.

Written by Brian E. Payne. Inspired by my dead Sudanese brothers and sisters.

2 comments:

Freedom In Christ said...

I believe that Black people (the sisters and brothers) need to start taking some responsible for how other Black people are being treated. First, we should not solely rely on the government to rescue us. Just like you said if they have not helped us in the past why should we look for them to help Black people in a different continent. If Black people would only stop hatin' on one another, and start loving one another then we would be able to help ourselves and the Sudanese. We could deliver food to the Sudanese ourselves, as Black people living in America.

MUATA NOWE said...

Another response:

If this was occurring anywhere in Europe or if Darfur had something America wanted or needed there would have been a "preemptive strike" already.
-Les