Why don't black Americans care about Darfur?

What can I as a black American do to make a difference?

Why don't Americans, especially black Americans care about Darfur?

Is it because of the lack of education and understanding of what's going on in Darfur?

Is it because of the gross lack of media attention here in America of Darfur?

Is because we just feel helpless to the situation? Or maybe most black Americans just don't care enough?

I think it's a little of all of the above.

I know speaking for myself that it wasn't until I started seeking out information on my own through news articles on the internet (there's very little coverage here in the U.S. about Darfur) before I even had a general sense of the conflict in Darfur which basically from my understanding is that there are two groups fighting; black Africans and the Arabs. The black Africans are seeking equal rights to land, social and public services and the right to have a self governing state and accusing the Sudanese government of favoring Arabs. Meanwhile Arabs are slaughtering, raping women to produce Arab children (which sounds like to me a sort of ethnic cleansing) and enslaving the black Africans which the Sudanese government is denying that modern-day slavery is going on.

I still cannot wrap my mind around exactly what sparked the conflict between these two groups to begin with; religious, ethnic or about land?? Apparently the tension between these two ethnic groups is nothing new. I still cannot fully understand why these two groups cannot get along. But there's one thing we as black Americans can understand when it comes to this conflict and it's called oppression.

As black Americans we come from a long history of slavery and inhumane treatment. A lot of the same rights that the black Sudanese are fight for is what we fought for. As black Americans we should be the first to empathize and offer a helping hand to these people because we are an inspiring example of blacks who were rose out of enslavement. But if a lot of black Americans are like me, they feel totally helpless on what to do?

Maybe black Americans just don't care enough? Are we just too consumed with our own problems (and believe me, aside from the great strides we have made in this country, black Americans still have their own mess to work through) or are we only concerned with more of the materialism that the U.S. has to offer? We claim to be so interested in our "roots" but very few black Americans can comment on any of the current events going on in Africa. I was very sad and ashamed when I read an interview with Simon Deng in which he was asked:

Given the history of slavery in the U.S., I was wondering what the response has been of Americans—especially African Americans—to your story?

He responded:

When I came to this country, my hope was that African Americans would be the first people to come and rescue me. I was disappointed. Up to today, I am still very disappointed. Nobody seems to care. I do not know what the reason is. Is it because we’ve become immune to it? Is it because slavery is still fresh in us, and we don’t want to talk about it? Nobody has given me an answer.We thought the first people to rescue us would be our own brothers and sisters here. Especially when we talk about the slavery that is going on in Africa in Sudan and Mauritania. African Americans should be the ones speaking out against this, but the ones speaking out happen to be the white people, which we appreciate.


What a shame....


I'm feeling helpless. Any suggestions on what I can do?