The Ithaca Journal (New York), October 26, 2007 Friday
Copyright 2007 The Ithaca Journal (Ithaca, NY)
All Rights Reserved
The Ithaca Journal (New York)
October 26, 2007 Friday
1 Edition
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 9A
BODY:
{}David Burak / Guest Column
Speaking "knowledge to power" is the most important obligation of a scholar, according to Cornell University Professor Walter LaFeber, one of America's most highly regarded historians. He also noted, in his introduction to Southeast Asia: A Testament, that this obligation requires "work, not revelation," citing the late Professor George Kahin's extraordinary efforts to convey significant information about the misconceptions underlying U.S. policy in Vietnam to members of Congress, as well as to his students and colleagues.
There is much to be gained from applying the Kahin/LaFeber paradigm to figuring out what concerned people can do about the genocidal situation in Darfur. The questions regarding what is potentially most effective as a response to this enormous tragedy by individuals associated with outstanding educational institutions like Cornell, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College, as well as with the Ithaca City School District and the city government, has several meaningful responses.
Let me say, from the onset, that though there are a significant number of excellent courses on African history, culture and politics, some taught by people whom I admire as scholars, there is a moral imperative to find ways to convey that knowledge beyond the halls of academia.
Considering the facts i.e. that about two million Darfurians have been brutally displaced and as many as 400,000 have been killed, in many cases by a combination of aerial bombings and attacks by the Janjaweed militias it would make ethical sense for Cornell, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College, as well as the City of Ithaca, to divest completely from all businesses that are profiting from their dealings with the Khartoum government.
To provide a historical parallel to substantiate the effectiveness of economic pressures being advocated in this piece and which have worked in other drastic situations, we can reflect on the call, in the early 1960s, for sanctions against South Africa issued by Martin Luther King Jr. and Chief Albert Lutuli of the African National Congress. This call contributed to increased support for sanctions from the UN, as well as from many educational institutions, cities, states and nations over the next three decades.
On the flip side of this historical comparison, for those who may have serious doubts about the governing abilities of any or all of the rebel Darfurian groups that are fighting for some form of sovereignty and dignity, it would be worthwhile to consider the statements by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her spokesman, Bernard Ingham. Thatcher called the African National Congress "a terrorist organization," and Ingham said "anyone who believed that the ANC would ever form the government of South Africa was living in cloud cuckoo land."
With that in mind, let me humbly suggest that it would make moral sense for students, faculty and administrators at Cornell, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College, as well as throughout the Ithaca City School District, to write to their senators in support of H.R. 180, the "Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007." Congressman Maurice Hinchey is a cosponsor of this Act, which was introduced in the House of Representatives by its author, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) in early January 2007, and was passed in August 2007. The Bill is now being considered by the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee in the Senate.
Though H.R. 180 was approved by a 418 to 1 vote in the House, there is no guarantee that it will be passed by the Senate, according to a representative of Congresswoman Lee. In a similar vein, even though Hillary Clinton has gone on record as favoring divestment, there is no guarantee that she will use her leadership position in the Senate to support this bill or the modified form that comes out of committee. Also, the prompt passage of a bill based upon H.R. 180 could add much needed momentum to the efforts to get states to divest their pension funds from companies that conduct business operations in Sudan.
Finally, for now, while the Senate's passage of some form of H.R. 180 may seem likely, it would be very sad if the opportunity to get legislation like this in the books was lost because concerned citizens figured that providing their input wasn't necessary. If the "Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act" fails to gain passage in the Senate and support from the President, we will, once again, have failed in our ethical responsibilities to give the statement, "Never Again," a substantive relationship to the realities of American foreign policy.
David Burak graduated from Cornell University's ILR School in 1967. He received an master of fine arts degree in creative writing from Cornell in 1980. His family resides in Syracuse. He teaches English at Santa Monica College and lives in Venice, Calif.
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