In 1945, we said "Never Again." In 1994, we said "Never Again." Now, in
the year 2007, we must yet again say those words that should have rang
true 60 years ago.
In
Sudan, hundreds of thousands of people are being slaughtered with the
support of the government by the militant Janjaweed and the rest of the
world isn't doing a thing about it. So far, the United Nations places
the death toll at 400,000, while another 2.5 million have been
displaced into refugee camps.
While the world sits around
thinking about what to do about it, people die. There is something,
though, that the University of Massachusetts and other schools
throughout the country can do to help. It's been done before at UMass,
and must happen again - divestment.
A school divests from a
country when it refuses to invest in any company that has resources in
that nation and provides little support to its people. Taking our money
out of Sudan is just the first step towards strangling this unjust
government. Since we are a public university, our state cannot be shown
to support this regime.
Fortunately, MASSPIRG has been doing a
lot of work on this issue, and with the help of the Sudan Divestment
Task Force - a national group ran mostly by college students - we have
uncovered many of the companies that UMass must refuse to support.
Companies like Rolls-Royce, PetroChina and Sinopec Corp. of China, CHC
Helicopter of Canada and many more have continued to invest in Sudan -
with little care for the people.
According to Stephanie Aines of
MASSPIRG, the University's investments change day-to-day. We could be
investing our money in Sudan today, and not tomorrow. If divestment is
ratified by the Board of Trustees and signed by President Wilson, UMass
accountants will either take all money out of the blacklisted companies
or cease from investing in them in the future. Currently, all five
UMass student government associations are considering a resolution in
support of divestment.
In 1986, at the height of South African apartheid policies which denied
blacks their civil rights, UMass and many other universities throughout
the United States did the right thing and divested from that country.
The campaign not only took money out, it shed important light and
rallied students to the defense of the helpless. Today, one UMass
campus cannot divest alone; the policy must be state-wide. Students,
parents, legislators and citizens should make it known that
Massachusetts will no longer support an evil regime.
In
his second inaugural address, President Bush stated, "All who live in
tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore
your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your
liberty, we will stand with you." If the President truly believes these
words, and that all people are afforded the right to live- not just the
ones whose interests align with the United States', he must stand up
for the victims of Darfur and take action.
If the U.S.
government can declare the killings in Sudan genocide, how can he sit
back and be idle? I have many problems with our current president; I
believe he has weakened America's standing in the world. But it is
never too late to do the right thing. We have a moral obligation to
work with the rest of the world to end the killing now. Sending aid,
commissioning studies and peacekeeping forces aren't enough. The
Janjaweed's reign must be demolished.
Divestment alone won't
stop the killing. But, everyday I see students yearning to do something
substantive to alter the course of world events. We can rally around
causes, but at the end of the day we must take action. Right now, we
have the power to take our money out of the hands of militant thugs.
It's a start. As we get more campuses to divest, the clamor of citizens
demanding action will become too much for the world to continue to
ignore.
The Board of Trustees, President Bush and you and I have
work to do. Let's make sure the words "never again" can finally ring
true at long last.
