2008 Woodie Awards
Congressman Brad Miller discusses genocide in Darfur
Deena Zaru
Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: News
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On Nov. 26, Democratic Congressman Brad Miller, who holds the seat for North Carolina's thirteenth district and is the husband of Guilford Alumni Board President Esther Hall '74, spoke about the genocide in Darfur in Bryan Jr. Auditorium. The talk was sponsored by the political science department and the College Democrats.
Miller's discussion consisted of three main parts. First, he educated the audience about the history of Africa and the causes of the genocide. Miller highlighted the conflicts over scarce resources, mainly water, between the Islamic tribes, who mostly raise crops, and the Arab tribes, who are more pastoral and herd animals for a living.
In order to control resources, the Arab tribes are led by "the Bashir regime, which is one of the world's most repugnant regimes, sponsored by the janjaweed Arab militia and the Sudanese government's military," Miller said.
According to Miller, the Bashir regime has already killed between 400,000 and 450,000 people, while over 2.5 million others are refugees, specifically Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Miller said that while the Sudanese population has doubled within a generation, there is now a 40 percent decrease in collective rainfall in Sudan.
"Darfur's population is ballooning and the herders need water for their animals while the farmers need water for their crops," said senior Malcolm Kenton, president of the College Democrats. "There's just not enough to go around. So, while an international troop presence may help lower the amount of violence, there's really no short-term solution to the water crisis."
The second major issue that Miller addressed is why the United States is not doing much to end the genocide.
In a joint interview, sophomores Alyzza Callahan and Henry Cordeal, who are both peace and conflict studies majors, said that Miller was honest when addressing this issue.
"It was really a great to hear him address the fact that race was a definitive reason to where the money flows," Callahan said. "He said that the reason that the U.S. did not hesitate to send troops to Yugoslavia (Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina) is because it was a bunch of white people suffering, whereas, aid is definitely not flowing into Sudan, because in this case, Africans are suffering."
Miller's discussion consisted of three main parts. First, he educated the audience about the history of Africa and the causes of the genocide. Miller highlighted the conflicts over scarce resources, mainly water, between the Islamic tribes, who mostly raise crops, and the Arab tribes, who are more pastoral and herd animals for a living.
In order to control resources, the Arab tribes are led by "the Bashir regime, which is one of the world's most repugnant regimes, sponsored by the janjaweed Arab militia and the Sudanese government's military," Miller said.
According to Miller, the Bashir regime has already killed between 400,000 and 450,000 people, while over 2.5 million others are refugees, specifically Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Miller said that while the Sudanese population has doubled within a generation, there is now a 40 percent decrease in collective rainfall in Sudan.
"Darfur's population is ballooning and the herders need water for their animals while the farmers need water for their crops," said senior Malcolm Kenton, president of the College Democrats. "There's just not enough to go around. So, while an international troop presence may help lower the amount of violence, there's really no short-term solution to the water crisis."
The second major issue that Miller addressed is why the United States is not doing much to end the genocide.
In a joint interview, sophomores Alyzza Callahan and Henry Cordeal, who are both peace and conflict studies majors, said that Miller was honest when addressing this issue.
"It was really a great to hear him address the fact that race was a definitive reason to where the money flows," Callahan said. "He said that the reason that the U.S. did not hesitate to send troops to Yugoslavia (Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina) is because it was a bunch of white people suffering, whereas, aid is definitely not flowing into Sudan, because in this case, Africans are suffering."
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