Our Thirteenth Concern: Our Own Prejudice

This week, guest blogger Reeba Monachan asks us to reflect on our inner prejudices -- and to realize those that prevent us from fully acknowledging each other's humanity. Be sure to read her post, take action, and look for an update on Wednesday 5/2.

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Our Own Prejudice

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

- Edmund Burke

Prejudice is all around us. It is involved in most of the topics we’ve discussed, in one form or another, but how often do we sit back and sit astounded by the prejudice around the world? This blog looks at the prejudice in our society and in our culture and more surprisingly in our own home.

There are multiple angles to look at societal, and inner prejudice. The first is through race:

Are these ideas ingrained in us everyday? After Hurricane Katrina, two photos were printed in two different AP news sources. They both displayed individuals wading in water chest-high carrying food items after the destruction caused by the storm. The photo with a young African-American was captioned “looting”, while a similar photo cited two Caucasian individuals in the same deep, murky water “finding” the goods. Check out the pictures of this discrepancy on the side panel.

Maybe these ideas are ingrained into us at a much younger stage, before we are even able to really comprehend news media. Last year, Kiri Davis recreated a 1940s experiment concerning young girl’s images of themselves. Ms. Davis asked these girls to choose the “good” doll and the “bad” doll between a black and white barbie, identical in every other way, but race. 15 of the 21 girls in the study (taken last year) chose the black doll as the bad one.

The video Ms. Davis produced was reposted on youtube.com and can be found here

Check out an interesting article from Time Magazine regarding the immigration debate. Would Americans be concerned with immigration if illegals were coming in from Canada, Australia or England? Are we just afraid of being “over-run by darker skinned people”?

Race is only one of our subconscious prejudices that we may be condoning. I don’t believe that we were born to hate. We are taught our manners, ideas, and opinions by society, by our cultures, and by the individuals with whom we surround ourselves.

Subconsciously, it's there. It is our job to change.

Because this topic is less tangible than others I don’t have statistics or a “top ten list” of how to be a better person. However, the mission of “Our Common Concern” is to “leave the world a better place than we found it.” This is just the first step.

Take Action!

This week, conquer your own inner prejudice. Tell someone they’re beautiful. Influence children in the right way. Think about and rethink your views on certain issues and why you have these views. Donate to organizations and charities established to fight injustice, such as the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ).

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

-Gandhi

For more information on this topic and ways people are closing these gaps, try these websites.

- Racial Disparities on the war on drugs

- The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ)

- The Fight for Your Rights Campaign is geared towards the young MTV crowd, but this page has links to a number of organizations established to fight against various forms of discrimination and to educate those of all ages.

Part III: Burma/Myanmar

To complete his three-part post on the Three Countries You Don't Hear Much About, guest blogger Dan Gilligan takes us to Myanmar, aka Burma.

Dan personally asked that I thank all of you for reading. He noted that while your small actions may not seem like much, "ripples sometimes add up into waves". Which is exactly why we need all of you. Thanks everyone, as always.

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“There exist today as many signs to justify hope as there are to instill fear.”

–Hannah Arendt

Burma or Myanmar, whether you wish to use a colonially imposed name or one imposed by a military junta, is a country we don’t get to hear about much about for a very simple reason: other than North Korea, it is perhaps the most closed off state to the rest of the world. Foreigners -- especially journalists -- are rarely allowed in. What little we do know comes mainly from human rights workers who must sneak into, around, and out of the country illegally. Since its independence from Great Britain, Burma/Myanmar has been marked by internal ethnic struggles. As you may know, this is not uncommon in post-colonial countries where administrative borders of former European powers were imposed on a locality and called a nation. It has, however, given rise to a particularly brutal military government. Forced and child labor as well as human trafficking are common, especially among military ‘officials’. While the military allows a parliament and political parties, they are heavily regulated and their influence is minimal. Further, without an independent judiciary, widespread and summary executions are commonplace in Burma/Myanmar.

Fast Facts:

- 1,300 political prisoners, including 18 members-of-parliament-elect are believed to still be held in Burma/Myanmar.

- While the National League for Democracy won over 60% of the vote and over 80% of parliamentary seats in the 1990 election and the military-backed National Unity Party won less than 2% of the seats, NLD-leader Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest while Senior General Than Shwe remained in power.

- Myanmar in ranked in the top 15 military spenders in the world, while it is ranked 66^th in GDP.

Learn More By Visiting:

- Amnesty International Country Profile

- BBC country profile

Take Action by:

- Contacting the US and UK Ambassadors to the UN in support of their recent draft resolution for the UN Security council to address the Human Rights and political concerns in Burma/Myanmar.

- And as before, contact the Media and your Representatives to raise their concern for our concerns.

In Memoriam

Friends,

In light of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, the University has created the "Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund" to support grief counseling, memorials, and more. Give what you can here.

I'll keep this and related links available for the indefinite future on the top of this page as well.

Thanks,
Jared

Tragedy in Virginia

This blog would be remiss if we did not express our deepest sorrow for the shooting at Virginia Tech today. I for one believe it speaks to the slow devolution of our community fabric that Our Common Concern was formed to resist. In light of this recent tragedy, we should redouble our efforts to care for one another and to realize our stake in the well-being of people, animals, and the environment.

I'm sure there will be opportunities to support the Virginia Tech community. I'll post that information here when it becomes available.

Yours,
Jared

Part II: Zimbabwe

Now, the second country you don't hear much about. By Dan Gilligan:

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Part II of this three-part series takes us to Zimbabwe. The media recently gave some attention to the political and human rights situation there following the March 11^th arrests of several political activists and members of the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Over fifty members were reportedly arrested and brutally beaten by police officers and most are still believed to be held in custody. Their crime? Peacefully assembling in support of open and fair democratic elections for new leadership of their country.

Since initially being elected Prime Minister in 1980 Robert Mugabe has moved to consolidate power and committed egregious violations of human rights to maintain it, including but not limited to:

- Rigging elections

- The forced relocation and evictions of minorities, notably the recent Operation Murambatsvina or ‘Drive out the Rubbish’

- Systematic discrimination against women, the disabled, and homosexuals

-Curtailing basic needs such as: food, shelter, as well as freedom of movement and residence

-Limiting important political freedoms such as assembly, the press, and participation in civil organizations or opposition parties

While Mr. Mugabe focuses on policies that maintain power and offer short-term solutions, his country long ago collapsed economically and continues to worsen. Simultaneously, he’s obstructing the efforts of outside aid organizations to offer even basic humanitarian relief.

Fast Facts:

1. Robert Mugabe just celebrated his 83rd birthday; average life expectancy in Zimbabwe is 38.

2. Zimbabwe’s Infant Mortality Rate nears 52 per 1000 births.

3. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to a high of 1,730% on March 10 of this year, which is currently the world’s highest.

4. The ‘official’ unemployment rate in Zimbabwe in 80%.

Operation Murambatsvina is estimated to have affected some 700,000 people. 5,000 - 6,000 are estimated to be housed in ‘transit camps’ while the rest been absorbed into now severely overcrowded households in urban and rural areas or are sleeping outside in small groups scattered across the country.

Learn More By Visiting:

1. Amnesty’s Country Report

2. BBC News Profile

Take Action by:

1. Contacting UK Ambassador to the UN Emyr Jones-Parry and support his effort to get the UN Security Council to step up its actions against Robert Mugabe.

2. Contact National Media and tell them you want to see more coverage of the ongoing political crisis in Zimbabwe following the March 11^th arrests for a peaceful political rally.

Our Twelfth Concern: Three Countries You Don't Hear Much About

Our Common Concern is back with a new look and a very thorough guest blog by Dan Gilligan. Dan's a fellow N.C. State grad and he focuses our attention on three countries we don't hear much about, beginning with Turkmenistan. Look for a discussion on Zimbabwe this coming Sunday.

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Our First Concern was the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. While there are many human rights concerns throughout the world, it may be worth some time to look at three more countries. These nations have very different but sadly very similar problems that don’t get as much media attention as others at the moment: Turkmenistan, Zimbabwe, and Burma/Myanmar. We’ll look at the first of these today and the others shortly. In no way is focusing on these three meant to suggest that there are not many other countries with grave human rights concerns; rather, this is just meant to provide a starting point.

Part 1: Turkmenistan

The most recent coverage of Turkmenistan in mainstream media occurred this past December when their current and only President in the post-soviet era Saparmurad Niyazov, a.k.a. Turkmenbashi or “Father of the Turkmen” passed. Turkmenbashi had long been a punch line, especially in European media, for some of his eccentricities which were reminiscent of the most decadent of the Caesars. Among them:

- renaming months of the Turkmen calendar after himself and his mother

- having an oversized solid-gold statue of himself installed in front of his palace that was rotated to always be facing the sun

- and styling himself after Elvis Presley.

What was not so funny was the fact that while Turkmenbashi was spending much of the profits from his country’s vast resources building palaces and statues meant to build a ‘Turkmen Identity’. 60% of the population lived and still lives in poverty. As well as making a reservoir in the desert and ski slopes on sub-tropical, arid mountains for his and his family’s recreation, minorities suffer under repressive government policies. Religious minorities were persecuted under Turkmenbashi, and the only allowed religion was a truncated form of Islam presented in the form of the Ruhnam, a collection of sayings and Koran tracts collected and authored by Turkmenbashi, which incidentally was the only book that schools are allowed to teach from.

The sort of extreme poverty combined with Islamic fundamentalism present in Turkmenistan has been compared to Afghanistan in the early 1990's. Despite the opportunity for change that the death of President-for-life Saparmurad Niyazov presented, elections this past February brought to power a long-time Saparmurad aide, Acting President and head of the Turkmen Democratic Party Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow by an Eighty Percent Margin. No other formal political parties have been allowed to organize.

Fast Facts:

- Turkmenistan has the world’s fourth largest *natural gas* reserves.

- Unemployment in Turkmenistan is estimated at about 60%; the same percentage live below the poverty line.

- Turkmenistan had the second-worst press freedom conditions in the world behind North Korea.

- Any act of homosexuality in Turkmenistan is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Learn More By Visiting:

1. The BBC News Country Profile

2. Amnesty 2006 Report

Take Action by:

1. Supporting Amnesty’s recommendations to Turkmenistan’s new government

2. Joining Amnesty’s Appeals for Turkmenistan’s Prisoners of Conscience

3. Writing to your Congressperson and Two Senators asking them to make engagement with and international scrutiny of Turkmenistan a greater concern.

The Show Me Campaign

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd give you updates on previous Concerns in between new ones. Here's one on Extreme Poverty:

- Grammy-winning musician John Legend has started what he's calling "The Show Me Campaign" to eradicate extreme poverty after his visit to a Millenium Village in Ghana. Below are links to the Campaign's partner organizations:

*Millenium Promise

*Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)

*The Gentlemen's Fund

more soon...

A Brief Hiatus

Dear Readers:

In just three months, Our Common Concern has welcomed hundreds of visitors to its site, hosted six great guest blogs, and highlighted Eleven Concerns on everything from companion animals in disasters to global warming.

This is quite an accomplishment indeed, especially for a brand new site like ours. But really, it's your accomplishment, not mine or anyone else's. It's you who read, posted, and commented every week. And it's you who took action for change.

I think three months is a great time to pause for reflection and to plan for what's next. Which is why, starting this week, I'll be taking a short hiatus from the blog.

But in the meantime, I'm asking you to send your thoughts on the site so far. What works, and what doesn't? What needs changing? Send in your thoughts today, or volunteer to guest post.

On behalf of all the guest bloggers and readers, thanks for sharing Our Common Concern. See you soon.

Best wishes -
Jared