The Darfur Genocide

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According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, a crisis is a difficult or dangerous situation that needs serious attention. It is a situation that has reached a critical phase. With that being said, what classifies an event in this time and age as a crisis? Is it when two planes implode into two towers, killing thousands of U.S citizens? Is it when a great earthquake leads to a devastating tsunami, reaping havoc on citizens of Japan? Is it when distressed banks in countries like Greece, Spain, and Ireland collapse—causing European middle classes to shrink and the poor to grow? We can agree that all of these are situations that have reached a critical phase. All of these are situations that have led up to a cry out for help. They were situations that led to a mental awakening of the citizens of the world, and sure enough, the world responded to these crises. The world responded with wide-spread media attention, relief efforts and supported in any way they could, but what about the crisis in Africa. No, not the hungry children you see on infomercials at three o’clock in the morning, but the very first genocide of the 21st century. Is this even a “Crisis” to the world? The European economic crisis has been going on for barely two years, yet the genocide in Darfur, Sudan has been going on for more than a decade. Is Wole Soyinka right? Have we chosen to place this in the back of our conscience mind because we believe it’s not that serious? Has the world classified this as yet another African issue? We need to take a moment to really analyze the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. We need to reflect on the history that led up to this conflict. If we take these steps, maybe then it would fit into Merriam-Webster’s definition of “crisis” that the wor...

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...p it. WE are simply choosing not to”. (Sudan Tribune, Reeves) Until the world can truly see this as a crisis—just like the European financial crisis, or the tsunami crisis of 2011 in Japan, or the 9/11 crisis in America—they will never give it the attention it needs. Therefore, it will remain a genocide in disguise.

Works Cited

“The Darfur Conflict” 2013. The History Channel. Website. 20 November 2013. http://www.history.com/topic/darfur-conflict

“Genocide in Darfur-How the horror began.”2013. Sudan Tribune. Website. www.sudantribune.com.20 November 2013.

Soyinka, Wole.Interviewed by Amy Goodman. Democracy Now. https://democracynow.org.NY, New York. 18 April 2006.

Prunier, Gerard.“The Ambiguous Genocide”.1-5.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.2005.Print.

Soyinka, Wole.“Of Africa”.Chapter 4.New Haven and London.Yale University Press.2012.Print

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