Africans: They Aren't even Niggers .... by Adam (2005)

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The incendiary phrase above is from the film "Hotel Rwanda". The line is spoken by the leader of the UN peacekeeping force. At the time, a genocide was beginning - a mass killing that didnt stop until over 800,000 corpses littered the roads and fields of Rwanda.

At the beginning of this crisis, the world community had a chance to stop the genocide. But the UN refused to send new forces and denied the existing ones the ability to confiscate weapons or even defend themselves. So, while neighbours killed neighbours with machetes, UN forces stood by powerless. How could the world allow this to happen? In the words of Nick Nolte's UN Colonel: to the rest of the world "you aren't even niggers... you're just Africans."

The world remains largely unresponsive to African problems. While Bush gives lip service to funding AIDS prevention and treatment, the money remains insufficient, mostly unreleased and poorly targeted. In sub-saharan Africa, over 2 million die of AIDS every year. In some countries nearly 1/3 of the population has AIDS. Over 12 million kids have been orphaned by the disease. 12 million orphans! Even if these kids survive, what kind of further social problems will result?

And poverty. 1000 Africans die every hour, simply because they have no access to clean water or food. A third of the children on the continent are dangerously malnourished.

Disease: 2500 Africans die from Malaria per day. Malaria can largely be severely controlled with a very simple invention: the mosquito net.

Human factors: wars, insurgencies and conflicts kill and wound thousands. Corruption, man-made environmental disasters and other preventable problems harm many more.

We can't simply blame the West, I realise. Much of the responsibility rests with the corrupt leaders of African states. But if you are an 8-year-old orphaned by AIDS or a mother who has lost all of her children to malnourishment, you don't care who is responsible. You probably don't even know the name of your president.

Western countries have the chance to help. But we have done very little. We spend far more on research for baldness cures than we do on tropical diseases like malaria or TB. We (especially the US) continue to supply most of the world's guns - used by cruel regimes to suppress and kill. Our international development budgets are painfully small, while tax cuts climb.

Why does Africa remain largely neglected? Well, the cruel fact is 1 dead American = 5 dead Europeans = 100 dead Asians = 1000 dead Africans. In this equation, they aren't even niggers. They're just Africans.

BLOG UPDATE

I'm trying to decide whether to get slightly optimistic over recent events. Bob Geldof is supposedly organising these Live 8 concerts to prompt the G8 leaders to put Africa on the agenda at their next meeting. While i admire his intentions, I'm hesitant to assign much hope to this as a tool to change policies. But, i suppose, it's better than doing nothing. Too bad it's mostly the barely living relics of fossil-rock, though.

The other issue is the talk coming from Tony Blair. Although, the key word here is 'talk'. He is saying Africa is now priority number one with him. So far, there is no evidence that this is more than a way to allow the UK govt to publicly bask in concern while taking no real action.

Don't know. As  far as resources go, Africa holds little of interest to the west (although there are plenty of natural resources worth starting civil wars over, apparently).

I suppose to appeal to the west we have to use the argument that poor, neglected people become angry freedom-haters who like to fly planes into skcrapers. Which is somewhat true... but too bad we can't rely on moral arguments. But they dont inspire much imagination in the halls of government (well, unless they are about abortion or gay marriage).

BLOG UPDATE

Parts of Africa remain on the terrorism concern list because it operates as a training ground and a potential place to recruit foot soldiers. Poor and neglected people are easily swayed into action, given that they have few real choices in life. Also, Africa has been a staging ground for terrorist acts in Kenya, Egypt and Tanzania. Sudan and Somaliahave large Moslem populations, unstable environments and known links to Al Queda.

The ironic part here is that it's Southern Africa that needs the real help (mostly), but N. Africa that can attract the terrorism-related attention.

Anyway, I certainly dont think terrorism ranks on the top 10 African problem countdown. I'm just trying to think of ways to appeal to the current American (and other) foreign policy goals.

I'm not sure if the discovery of large amounts of oil would solve things either. I remember reading some study thate related conflict to resource levels. It found that poor countries with lots of resources suffered from much more conflict and war. As well, I wonder what the Western role would be. For example in Burma, a semi-resource-rich country, the American role seems to be to sign oil pipeline contracts, then pay the dictatorship to kill, rape and forcibly relocate villagers to protect those pipelines.

Anyway, i don't have an answer. I suppose it lies in a collection of these things: morality, fear of the effects of neglect on world safety, better media coverage, a less conservative US govt, more generous western govts, an increased respect for the economic potential of Africa etc..

From my blog on www.downelink.com