Nicholas Kristof's speech about the horrors occurring in Darfur addressed a huge problem in the world today. The genocide and gang rapes that occur there are inexcusable and among the most terrible crimes the world has ever seen. He also highlighted the Tufts community's affinity for active citizenship and its familiarity with the Darfur tragedy. It is, however, what he did not address that should be the central concern of our students, and those across the country.
As we pour ourselves into stopping genocide in Darfur, what are we doing to ensure that no future genocides ever start?
We Americans are more connected to the societies around us than any superpower in the history of the world and yet, genocide receives little to no mind from the aggregate American people. We see tragedy before us but we do not sense it. In light of the events of World War I, Hitler infamously asked, "Who remembers the Armenians?" And no one did. After World War II's holocaust we said, "Never again," and yet "again" is upon us once more. In response to Clinton's failure to address Rwanda, George W. Bush said "Not on my watch," and yet nearly no one, including the president, is watching. Genocide does not end when one is stopped.
Conflicts like these are like hydras. Killing them is not simply a matter of lopping off heads. It takes creativity. We must not only ask ourselves how best to end the Janjaweed's massacres and the Sudanese Government's endorsement of the killings. Instead we must also seriously deliberate how to rebuke Stalin: one million deaths is not a statistic, but rather an incredible tragedy.
Our end goal should not be to create a no-fly zone to help wean off the killings, but to create conditions where people like the Janjaweed don't look to massacre and rape to escape their incredibly poverty. Darfur is not an isolated incident; it is but one manifestation of so many global injustices. And these injustices will not disappear when the killing ends in Sudan.
This is why I challenge the students and faculty of this university to accept your duty and engage the community we are all a part of. Discuss issues with your friends. Debate with those you don't know. Start a process to exchange knowledge with everyone you meet, so that we might all become wiser.
We have all been given an opportunity to attend or work at one of the most prestigious schools in the country, and for students at least, that opportunity is limited. At no other time during our lives are we going to be in such close proximity to so many intelligent people. In no other place can so many help each other learn so much. And at no other time in history has there been such a need for these constructive discourses to occur.
The answers I seek will not be easy to come by, but that doesn't make them any less necessary to find. As Professor Robert Devigne put forth in his article "Free Speech and Wisdom," we are far off from creating the ideal environment for true intellectual discourse that might lead to better understanding of a myriad of topics. But, it is nonetheless the duty of the university to create such an environment and it is clearly within its power to do so.
I certainly applaud all those people who have devoted so much energy towards righting the wrongs occurring in Darfur. There is so much to be said for the power of individual efforts and, in numbers, the effects are amazing. But the primary goal of the university should not be to deal with these problems head on, but to cultivate wisdom, so that better strategies for attack might be realized.
Once off this campus, we will all be provided numerous opportunities for active citizenship through groups for social change. But during our precious time upon this hill we are provided a far more unique opportunity to grow and to teach amongst our scholarly peers.
Stop genocide in Darfur now. Stop the next great genocide from beginning, later.
Zachary Baum is a sophomore majoring in political science.
