My Blog

Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings. -Elie Wiesel

All over the news are the immigrant protests that will be affecting major cities on May 1. What is less prominent in the media is the holocaust occurring in Darfur. At 4:30 p.m. on May 1 there will be a rally to "stop the genocide" sponsored by the Chicago Coalition to Save Darfur. You may have heard about the Darfur marches that took place across the country on April 30.

So what’s the deal with Darfur? First let’s start with where it is. Darfur is a western region of Sudan. Sudan is bordered by Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Congo, C.A.R, Chad and Libya. The climate is mostly desert in Sudan besides the fertile grounds near the Nile River and the Red Sea. Unfortunately, the Darfur region is far west of the Nile river. There is little water and fertile land is sparse. The issue of land is key to the current conflict.

Basically, in Sudan there is a regular army but there are also government supported militias who attack civilians. Imagine if in Florida a large militia emerged which started raping, beating, and killing the elderly. This militia would surely be put down by the United States government. In Sudan, the government actually funds or offers military support to these militias.

The militias are the "Janjaweeds."  They were initially sent to the Darfur region by the Sudanese government to clear the region of rebel groups opposing the Sudanese government. (This is somewhat separate from the Sudanese civil war which lasted for 20 years and recently ended after a peace agreement was signed in 2005.) Instead of fighting just the guys fighting the government, they scorched the earth and displaced and killed hundreds of thousands of African civilians. If the Janjawee can eliminate a large percentage of the population, the land is theirs, as are the limited resources.

The Africans driven from their homes by the Janjawee are living in displaced persons camps. Sometimes humanitarian aid can’t get to the camps because it is blocked by the Sudanese government or the Janjaweed.

The estimated death toll in Darfur is currently at 400,000.

So this is the thing. Ten years ago there was a genocide in Rwanda. It took a Hollywood movie for anyone to care about it and then it was too late. President Clinton said the biggest regret of his presidency was not doing more in Rwanda.

We, as voters, need to pressure our government to do more about Darfur. I’m not saying invade or anything, but we can allocate more funds to aid agencies, we can help train the African Union troops. Whatever we do we have to do more than we are doing now.

Attend the rally. If you can’t or if you don’t live in Chicago write your representatives, call the President, and donate money.

Here’s an idea for a little quicky fundraiser. Print out a blank map of Africa. Charge $1-$5 for the map and distribute to coworkers. Whomever can identify the most countries will win the pool and their winnings will be donated to the Save Darfur campaign in his/her honor or in honor or in memory of someone else. (Don’t let anyone cheat and use the Internet!)

Please forward this to anyone who might be interested.

A destruction, an annihilation that only man can provoke, only man can prevent. -Elie Wiesel

Save Darfur web site

Website dedicated to exposing Darfur genocide

May 1 rally

BBC Coverage

An amazing photo essay

Map of Africa

Anyone who has attended a university with Division I athletic teams knows that athletes at the school are in an elite class not just because of their athletic talent, but because of how they are treated within the university setting. They eat better food; they have free tutoring; and they are sometimes enrolled in athlete friendly courses.

To some degree, this first class treatment is deserved. After all, through their efforts, especially the men’s basketball and football programs, the university earns millions of dollars in revenue and solidifies connections to alumni who in turn dontate money.  However, with this treatment comes responsibility. Instead, too often, the result is an uncontrollable amount of gravitas put on display by some of the athletes.

Ten years ago at IU the captain of the soccer team (yes, the number 1 soccer team in the nation) beat the crap out of another student who he mistaken for another student who had taunted one of his teammates. He used his leadership position, brought several of his teammates to the fraternity, and the student who answered the door was punched several times and was left with a black eye, broken teeth and fractured ribs.

He received very little punishment for his actions and was charged with misdemeanor battery.   

Everyone knows now about the alleged Duke rape case. I have no idea if anyone was raped at the party. But what the hell is a collegiate team holding a party with strippers and tons of alcohol? I’m not naive. I know young men and old men like and enjoy strippers. College students drink alcohol. But the difference is that athletes earn scholarships, and I believe these athletes received full scholarships to attend university. Today that’s worth at least $150,000. I have students who can’t go to the college they want to attend because they can’t afford it. I don’t think they’d spend their extra money on strippers.

Most schools have athletes sign a code of conduct. I doubt Duke is any different. Somehow that code needs to mean something and that’s up to Athletic Departments to instill and enforce.

Why did these boys think it was ok to threaten to sodomize the strippers? Why did they call them the "N" word? How did they think that was ok? Why did they need a college party with strippers?

The coaches and athletic directors are just as guilty as the athletes who attended this party of poor judgment and bad choices. No matter how big the athletic department, people hear of parties, they know what’s going on even if they don’t know every detail. The excuse "Boys will be Boys" just doesn’t cut it.

Perhaps before each season athletes should attend some sort of behavior class to learn what is ok and what is not. Maybe they should be taught the history of racism and sexism. And if an athlete violates the behavior code, they should not be allowed to play and their scholarship should be revoked.

If you want to go to college, hire strippers, and act like a bunch of jerks then pay for it yourself and don’t wear your school colors. Or better yet, have some friends over, have a few beers or cokes, and rent a movie or go watch live music or a play. It’s not that difficult to make good choices.

The images have been stunning. Hundreds of thousands of Hispanics lining the streets of major cities protesting against the criminalization of illegal immigration. These protests come as Congress has unsuccessfully attempted to pass legislation that would affect 11-12 million undocumented workers in the United States and however many future immigrants who would attempt to enter the the borders illegally. Next week the Senate will attempt to pass immigration legislation through adding more beauracracy to the Office of Homeland Security and creating a "touch back" system that appeases Republicans who have disavowed the concept of amnesty.

So here’s how it works: 

Let’s say you have been in the United States for more than five years as an undocumented worker. If the proposed legislation passes you have to pay a fine for being illegal, pay back taxes, and pass a background check by the Office of Homeland Security who would now have to do background checks on 12 million undocumented immigrants in addition to the other millions of people trying to enter the country.

Let’s say you have been in the United States for three years. Then you have to go back to the other side of the border and fill out a request for guest worker status. The undocumented workers living in Chicago, with their huge salaries as bus boys, are going to travel all the way back to Mexico to ask to be let back in to the United States to be bus boys?

The latter requirement is just ridiculous and impractical and included simply to make some Republicans look tough against illegal immigrants.

The rhetoric by some conservatives on this issue is simply xenophobia masked by the phrase "protecting our borders from terrorists." Get rid of them all. Now. Load them up on busses and take them back to where they came from.

Let me get this straight. The 9-11 hijackers were from Mexico?

The conservatives are also saying things like the Mexicans are bringing in diseases that are antibiotic resistant. Is this true? Where are the statistics? It sounds like scare tactics. Why is it that since 9-11 legislation is sold to the public by scaring us half to death? If I listened to the Conservatives I would believe that liberals killed God, I should be thankful that I am still alive because Saddam Hussein could have launched chemical weapons into my bedroom, Arab terrorists are hanging out at my public library, and soon I’ll be out of a job because a diseased Mexican will be applying for a history teacher position.

Truthfully, the numbers of illegal immigrants in this country is troubling and taxing. Not because they are undocumented, but because we simply do not have the infrastructure to accommodate them.  We don’t even have healthcare and good public schools for our own citizens, how can we provide those two necessities for others?

I think this is more evidence that our legislature has a problem thinking creatively. We need these workers. We need them to do the jobs that they do. Somehow we need to provide for them some types of social welfare to support their endeavors in keeping America productive.

There are ways. We could have a health care system for the guest workers. We could have schools for their children. By caring and educating for them, perhaps they will return to Mexico with better skills to improve the country or stay here and contribute just like our great grandparents did when they came in through the Ellis Island or Galveston.

So what is the solution? Perhaps we need to institute a system like the European Union has where if you are a citizen of a EU state you can work anywhere in the EU. Let’s make it easier for people to work here, but document their arrival and departure and have them pay taxes.

Illegal immigration is a challenge to this nation. But why can’t we address the challenge instead of resorting to nationalistic, isolationistic verbiage. Why is the legislation geared at keeping people out? Why is the legislation punitive? Why can’t we address the needs of our work force and the social needs of its immigrant laborers?