BLACKS NEED TO RETHINK DARFUR AND IMMIGRATION

By Dr. Chika A. Onyeani
Editor-In-Chief of the African Sun Times

"There is something sad about our people in this country - blacks. We have this syndrome that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, or that the enemy of my friend is my enemy, or that the friend of my friend is also my friend. This is idiotic thinking, which has landed us into too many unnecessary positions. Let's take the case of the situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Speak to many blacks, more than 75% don't know, or even if they knew, don't understand what is going on there. The other 25% who understand have limited knowledge about the geopolitics of Africa and look at it from the prism of the American government's policies vis-a-vis African-Americns in this country. Most of the informed blacks view U.S. intentions in Africa with suspicion. Of course, who wouldn't, knowing what America has done in Iraq. Let's face it, I wouldn't advocate U.S. troops in Africa, but how do we stop the carnage in the Darfur region where more than 200,000 lives have been lost, and countless number expelled from their homes by the Sudan-government supported rebel group, the janjaweed. Over two million have been routed from homes and are mostly in refugee camps. 'Oh, why should the U.S. government be going to the Darfur when it did nothing when Katrina hit New Orleans.' Therefore, if America wants to intervene humanitarianlly, it must either have bad intentions or just want to get its hand on the rich resources of the country. Sudan, it so happens, possesses oil, and it must be because of George Bush's insatiable hunger for oil, that is driving this so-called humanitarian attention on the Sudan. No, America government didn't do much for us in New Orleans, they must have ulterior motives in going to Sudan.

"It is this type of thinking that makes me angry. Now, the so-called elite don't realise that Sudan has mortaged its oil to the Chinese. China has blocked any attempt to imposing sanctions on the Sudanese government. They don't only supply Sudan with its military needs, which they use in killing black Africans, they also have used their veto vote at the United Nations to block U.N. action in the country. But our people would rather give a pass to China - the friend of my friend is my friend. B.S.

"Again, I don't understand why African-Americans are always giving a pass to the Arabs. The Arabs have done nothing but oppress black people throughout history. They invaded north Africa in the 10th century and are still there. They started the slave trade, yet as we continue to demand reparation from the whites, we have never asked the Arabs for the millions of Africans they abducted into slavery. The sad part of this is that the Arabs are still enslaving black Africans - what is happening in the Darfur region is nothing but a continuation of the ethnic cleansing that the Arabs have designed to remove black Africans from that region of the world. We have this sympathise for the Arabs in Palestine, but they are just as bad as the Arabs in Africa who murder black Africans. We cheer Osama bin Laden because he has issued an intifada and invited his band of guerrilas to Sudan to support the Arab government. My question has always been, why should have any kind of sympathy at all for Osama bin Laden. The man ordered the destruction of American embassy buildings in Kenya and Tanzania, "to teach America a lesson." But bin Laden didn't want to teach the lesson in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and many more Arab states. It selected two African countries where more than 300 people died. This man is an enemy of black people, period.

"African-Americans must begin to evolve their own foreign policy initiatives, and understand that because the U.S. government necessarily treats them in a manner not to taste, doesn't mean that America shouldn't use its might to help their brothers and sisters in Africa. We must abhor imperialism in any form, but from my own vintage point, I see development dollars in everywhere America has landed. Look at Asia, and look at Africa and see the disparities. You know the kind of infrastructure America builds when they land in a place, not the kind of destruction they have caused in Iraq, that is the kind of development we need in Africa - infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure. You know what is good about infrastructure development, is that when you kick out the imperialists you get to keep the infrastructure, they don't up root and take them with them.

"We shouldn't be shouting imperialism all the time. The Black leaders in Africa are doing a lousy job. In 47 years, they are yet to help the masses see the benefits of independence.

"The problem in Darfur is that Arabs are ethnically cleansing the area to remove any vestiges of Black Africans in the area so that they could Arabise the area. Blacks should get that into their heads. And stop this stupid love area of the Arabs. That's what I say about Darfur: evolve Black American policies in Africa, which looks for the interest of the people there, and not tied to US policies in America. They are not interchangeable."

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