Pulitzer-Prize columnist reflects on Darfur
Jack Willems
Issue date: 9/24/08 Section: News
Kristof was able to interview a member of the Janjaweed militias while in Darfur. While Americans might think the genocide is about tribal conflict, the main reason the militiaman Kristof spoke to slaughtered people was because he was paid to, he said.
While the conflict in Darfur does have racial elements, another division driving the genocide is that Arabs in Sudan tend to be herders while the black in Sudan tend to be farmers, Kristof said. With the Sahara Desert expanding, the competition for land had become fierce.
Kristof praised the rising generation for being "social entrepreneurs," such as the creator of Teach For America and Jennifer Staple, who began a program to distribute old pairs of glasses to the Third World. Social entrepreneurs are those who start an organization designed to fulfill a specific social need, he said.
"That's a tactic that is much more effective than marching up and down and saying, 'Down with blindness,'" Kristof said.
Kristof also encouraged students to travel to the Third World so the U.S. as a country could better understand it. Many of the foreign policy mistakes the U.S. has made were caused by the fact that U.S. citizens did not understand how people in other countries thought, he said.
Also, programs with good intentions often made things worse in such countries, such as one program to give scholarships to girls in Africa, Kristof said. The scholarships were given out by the principal of the school, who would often give it to a girl who would sleep with him, Kristof said.
"It's hard to change something when you do not understand it," Kristof said.
Mac Stephen, a senior biology and anthropology major, said he thought Kristof was right when he said students should find an issue they care about now because they might not have time later.
Having Kristof speak at the university was a remarkable opportunity for UA students to hear someone who has "seen the world up close and has some extraordinary insight," professor Hoyt Purvis said.
"I think Kristof knows more about these issues than any other speaker the university could have invited," Stephens said.
Kristof has also won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the Chinese democracy movement at Tiananmen Square. Kristof still considers Darfur to be the most important story he has covered, he said.
"If I had not reported on it, chances are it would not have been noticed," Kristof said.
While the conflict in Darfur does have racial elements, another division driving the genocide is that Arabs in Sudan tend to be herders while the black in Sudan tend to be farmers, Kristof said. With the Sahara Desert expanding, the competition for land had become fierce.
Kristof praised the rising generation for being "social entrepreneurs," such as the creator of Teach For America and Jennifer Staple, who began a program to distribute old pairs of glasses to the Third World. Social entrepreneurs are those who start an organization designed to fulfill a specific social need, he said.
"That's a tactic that is much more effective than marching up and down and saying, 'Down with blindness,'" Kristof said.
Kristof also encouraged students to travel to the Third World so the U.S. as a country could better understand it. Many of the foreign policy mistakes the U.S. has made were caused by the fact that U.S. citizens did not understand how people in other countries thought, he said.
Also, programs with good intentions often made things worse in such countries, such as one program to give scholarships to girls in Africa, Kristof said. The scholarships were given out by the principal of the school, who would often give it to a girl who would sleep with him, Kristof said.
"It's hard to change something when you do not understand it," Kristof said.
Mac Stephen, a senior biology and anthropology major, said he thought Kristof was right when he said students should find an issue they care about now because they might not have time later.
Having Kristof speak at the university was a remarkable opportunity for UA students to hear someone who has "seen the world up close and has some extraordinary insight," professor Hoyt Purvis said.
"I think Kristof knows more about these issues than any other speaker the university could have invited," Stephens said.
Kristof has also won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the Chinese democracy movement at Tiananmen Square. Kristof still considers Darfur to be the most important story he has covered, he said.
"If I had not reported on it, chances are it would not have been noticed," Kristof said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ahmed M. Mohamedain
posted 9/24/08 @ 5:25 PM CST
Now that The Prosecutor of te International Criminal Court requested an arrest warrant for el-Bashir, the CEO of Darfur genocide, members of UN Security Council should not divert from their moral obligation to protect the people of Darfur. (Continued…)
Post a Comment