Let's Discuss

I'm taking a class on human rights in which we discuss whether human rights exist, whether they are natural or positive law (meaning are people born with them or are they created by men and institutions?), and whether there will ever be any consensus on universal rights. Along with those questions come attendant issues of dialogue, language, power dialectics and political struggles, and what happens when some (powerful) countries start naming what's going on in other (less powerful) countries. The problem of countries naming and condemning what goes on in other countries is a difficult one, particularly given the force of state sovereignty in foreign relations, but when those countries' power is unequally weighted, it can get really tricky. This is an interesting article I read a while ago in the London Review, but am reading again now as I begin to rethink these questions.

LRB
8 March 2007
Mahmood Mamdani

The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency
Mahmood Mamdani

The similarities between Iraq and Darfur are remarkable. The estimate of the number of civilians killed over the past three years is roughly similar. The killers are mostly paramilitaries, closely linked to the official military, which is said to be their main source of arms. The victims too are by and large identified as members of groups, rather than targeted as individuals. But the violence in the two places is named differently. In Iraq, it is said to be a cycle of insurgency and counter-insurgency; in Darfur, it is called genocide. Why the difference? Who does the naming? Who is being named? What difference does it make?

The most powerful mobilisation in New York City is in relation to Darfur, not Iraq. One would expect the reverse, for no other reason than that most New Yorkers are American citizens and so should feel directly responsible for the violence in occupied Iraq. But Iraq is a messy place in the American imagination, a place with messy politics. Americans worry about what their government should do in Iraq. Should it withdraw? What would happen if it did? In contrast, there is nothing messy about Darfur. It is a place without history and without politics; simply a site where perpetrators clearly identifiable as ‘Arabs’ confront victims clearly identifiable as ‘Africans’.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n05/mamd01_.html

Op-Ed

Ignore Hopelessness NOT Homelessness in NYC

Sitting on the train on my way home and all I want—like most of the riders—is to get home, eat dinner, and watch a little TV before going to sleep. While passing time playing Texas Hold-em blackberry style, I hear someone open the separating car doors. Right on cue a disheveled man says, “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am sorry for disturbing you, but I am homeless and I am hungry…”

Homelessness is one of the most depressing parts of living in New York City. It's difficult even for those who just work in the City to avoid the heart-wrenching reality of NYC's poorest. I struggle daily with the guilt of trying to ignore the discarded men and women wandering the subways, or—if I do decide to give a few coins— the guilt of trying to avoid touching them. Perhaps one dollar could save this person from the fate of starvation. But then the internal dialogue ensues: how do I know that my hard-earned money is used for food and not drugs or alcohol? And what about the man or woman who gets on at the next stop pleading for money? The simple fact is I wish I could help them all, but I can't—there are simply too many.

Looking for solutions, I come across another layer to the problem: many homeless people are also mentally ill, needing specialized care. I doubt they all had mental issues and then ended up on the street. Rather, I suspect that for many the detachment from reality began after losing their homes. Once one loses the ritual of cleansing and changing clothes (the daily routines that hold us intact), perhaps all the other things that once made sense start to slip away.

Although single men are the most visible portion of the homeless population (which is on the rise), families, particularly children, make up over two-thirds of those who are in need of housing. These children are often subjected to greater exposure to violence and are up to three times more likely be physically or sexually abused. Services are available to address issues of child abuse, but unfortunately society's sympathy to a child's trauma wanes as he or she gets older, which only perpetuates the problem.

The truth is any one of us could be one of them—all it takes is one false move or for fate to deal a blow: the loss of a job, a marriage break-up, a breakdown. Any one of us could also play a role in improving the situation. Several organizations, like Partnership for the Homeless, make it possible for us to volunteer in a homeless shelter or donate to a charitable organization. We (the average working New Yorker) may be frightened about getting involved or overwhelmed by the thought of another responsibility, but even the most skittish among us can take the bold step—albeit small—toward improving the lives of all our city’s residents. We can do more than be depressed.

Marguerite Saint-Preux