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Dying While Black

by soj Tue Jul 26th, 2005 at 04:29:01 PM EST

In English there is a term called Driving While Black, a non-existent "crime" of being a black driver. Today however I'd like to focus on wars, kidnappings and civil meltdown that is ignored or forgotten because the participants are people of color.

On July 7, 2005 a series of four bombs in London was a front page story around the world. While tragic, the death toll was less than 100 people. Yet compare this to other events around the world:

There is a gigantic country located in central Africa named the République Démocratique du Congo or DR Congo for short. It is roughly one-forth the size of the United States and home to 60 million people.

It is also the deadliest and most war-torn country on the planet, especially the parts in the map insert. The country has been gripped by a civil war since 1994 and there are currently 15,000 UN peacekeepers in the country, slightly less than the combined international forces in Afghanistan. Fighting continues on a daily basis between UNOMOC (UN peacekeeping) forces and entrenched guerillas aligned with either Rwanda or Uganda.

Tens of thousands of girls and women have been raped, from children age 3 and up to pregnant women to senior citizens. Read that again - tens of thousands. The international organization Doctors Without Borders treats more than 1,000 rape victims per year.

The fighting and unrest has killed 4 million people, with the International Rescue Committee saying that 31,000 people die per month.

Imagine if 31,000 people were dying per month in Serbia because of a war. It would be a major front-page story and the central political issue. Yet these people and this war is ignored and forgotten...
The nation of Thailand, home to 65 million people, is mostly known for its tourist mecca capital Bangkok. Yet few people know it has been fighting a vicious civil war in the southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Songhkla and Yala since January 2004.

More than 800 people have been killed with 11 people beheaded in the last month alone. The government has imposed martial law in the provinces and is buying weaponry from the United States to enforce it. People are being killed 2-3 times per week in this area yet you'd never know about it from the commercial media.

Imagine if martial law had been imposed in the south of France to combat a civil war which was killing people every single day. It would be a major front-page story and the central political issue. Yet these people and this war is ignored and forgotten...
The Hindu kingdom of Nepal is mostly known for its mountain peaks, including the world's tallest Mt. Everest. It is home to 27 million people who mostly want to live a simple, vegetarian life.

Yet it is a failed state in nearly every sense of the word. The current leader is a king whose own brother massacred the rest of the royal family and then killed himself. The king has dismissed the entire government and rules by absolute fiat.

The country has been fighting a civil war since 1996 and an estimated 11,500 people have died in the fighting with 100,000 to 150,000 having had to flee their homes. The rebel Marxist movement has more troops than the government's army, although the king's forces receive regular arms shipments from the U.S., Britain and India.

Imagine if the queen of England dismissed the entire government and installed herself as a dictator, leading a failed civil war in which tens of thousands of people were killed. It would be a major front-page story and the central issue of the day. Yet these people and this war is ignored and forgotten...
There is a war going on in Chechnya and Dagestan, two southern provinces of Russia which are home to approximately 3 million people.

Just about every day there are reports of people killed in the fighting between pro-government and anti-government forces. Yesterday a bomb blew up a police vehicle, injuring 7 people. Two days ago, a bomb blew up a commuter train, killing 1 and injuring 4. Meanwhile entire villages' worth of people had to flee the Chechen village of Borozdinovskaya because of attacks by government forces.

A total of 200,000 people have been killed in Chechnya alone since 1994.

Thousands of people are kidnapped every year for ransom by both sides. The Chechen president recently estimated as many as 10,000 have been abducted since the resumption of the war in Chechnya in 1999.

If a bomb explodes on a train and kills people in London it's front page news and the central issue of the day. Yet if it kills people in Dagestan it's ignored and forgotten...
The country of Nigeria is home to more than 130 million people and is one of the largest countries in the world, both in terms of size and population.

Most people know that Nigeria is an oil-producing nation and also the home to many internet scams. What few people know is that AIDS has killed 2.3 million Nigerians and roughly 3.8 million are infected. Even less well known is that 20,000 people have been killed in inter-religious and inter-ethnic fighting in the last six years.

This is despite the fact that Nigeria is now a democracy. The country's borders were created in the colonial era as a mishmash of ethnic and religious groups and Nigeria has already fought one large-scale civil war in Biafra (1967). There are almost as many independence movements as languages spoken in Nigeria and inter-religious tensions, including between Shi'ites and Sunnis, Christians and Muslims and animists have also led to widespread unrest.

And despite the enormous oil wealth, most Nigerians are extremely poor as the petroleum income flows into very few hands. If this was happening in Australia, Europe or North America, it would be a major issue. Yet the people of Nigeria are largely ignored and forgotten by the outside world...
The nation of Somalia is a little more familiar to some, at least the events of 1993 involving the killing of American troops. Yet few people know that Somalia is currently home to 11 million people and has no effective central government.

On June 27, Somali warlords seized a United Nations ship loaded with food and captured the crew - 8 Kenyans, a Tanzanian and the captain, a Sri Lankan. Those 10 men continue to be held hostage as the warlord is demanding $500,000. There are fresh reports that they will be freed soon, which I hope does indeed occur.

The point once again is that if any of the kidnapped men had been European, North American or Australian, this would be a front-page story and key political issue. But because the victims are people of color, their plight has gone unreported...
These are just a few instances of important world events that go largely unreported and ignored because they don't involve Europeans, North Americans or Australians. This strikes me as the ultimate in hypocrisy and racism, as the deaths and suffering of people of color is no less important than for anyone else.

If a plane full of passengers crashes in the United States, it's a major news event. If a plane crashes in Equatorial Guinea, it's a non-event.

Every morning I write my PDB to help bring attention to these events. I also write more-indepth articles as well. Some wars and large-scale tragedies do get mentioned, such as Sudan, Zimbabwe or (now) Niger. My point is simply to bring up just how lopsided and unbalanced most commercial media coverage is from all political spectrums.

Peace

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Dying While Black | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Dying While Black (4.00 / 2)
thanks soj.

you know the cynical old newspaperman's formula -- I can't locate the original via google, but it goes something like this:  to get a headline, you need one dead American. or ten dead Europeans or Israelis, or a hundred dead Asians or Arabs, or ten thousand Africans.

it appears that inflation has altered these figures over the years, and now even a couple of hundred thousand dead Africans are not headline material.  it is deeply shameful.

part of the reason I suspect is the reflexive racism of the West -- not just that non-White lives are "worth less than ours", but something a little more subtle than that: things are not supposed to go wrong in our "superior", "well-run", "advanced" society.  so when planes crash or buildings collapse it is seen as a terrible anomaly.  when a plane crashes in New Guinea, it's "oh well what can you expect, nothing works right in Those Sorts Of Places [Furrin Parts]."  civil wars, starvation, corruption, chaos, disorder -- it's all just proof that Those People don't know how to run their lives, as we always suspected (and aren't we lucky not to live in such primitive and backwards places).  it's not "news" because it is what the writing and reading classes subconsciously expect.  

what would really make headlines in the West would be a Third World country where preventable disease had been nearly eliminated, hunger was rare, literacy was nearly universal, and the streets were safe.  and if there were such a country it would promptly be demonised (cf Cuba?) and/or brought down by the IMF.  the Superior West tolerates no rivals.

although, come to think of it, Kerala has a remarkable track record for relative peace and modest prosperity and social welfare, and it has never made headlines in the corpomedia.  so maybe what I say above isn't true at all -- maybe nothing that third world people do gets headlines, except killing a handful of Westerners.  and then people ask "why do they resort to terrorism"....?

another reason imho for lack of coverage in the more reputable journals is that any serious journalistic coverage would, if done with any integrity, end up pointing some fingers back at the West:  for its stingy aid, for its colonial meddling that set the stage for so many tragedies of the 20th century (and on into the 21st).  so journos are not encouraged to dig into that great big hamper of dirty laundry.

the cumulative weight of suffering and sorrow in the third world, in my lifetime alone, makes me (as a first world person) feel like a pampered toddler playing in a lifelong sandbox.


The difference between theory and practise in practise ...

by DeAnander (de_at_daclarke_dot_org) on Tue Jul 26th, 2005 at 11:45:47 PM EST
Re: Dying While Black (4.00 / 2)
Thank you for the lengthy comment... and sadly I think what you say is true.

I still struggle to come to grips with this.  I just cannot seem to get my mind around the fact that this imbalance of coverage and interest is playing a vital role in domestic politics.

The tsunami of December 2004 was seen as a worldwide tragedy and people wanted to help.  But there's a humankind-made tsunami called war that's sweeping the planet and most people know nothing about it. Zip. Zero.  Black hole.  

There are gallons of ink in our media (including books) written about Serbia and Iraq but almost none about Thailand or Uganda and literally almost none about DR Congo, Nigeria or Nepal.  I've got to read the much-criticized Russian press to even hear the name Moldova or Abkhazia or Transdniestr.  

I asked a friend here who doesn't read internet news but does watch the evening news regularly and listens to the radio news what wars are going on around the planet.  All he could think of was Iraq and then later Afghanistan.  When I said what about Chechnya he said oh yeah but couldn't tell me one single thing more than that.

I used to think the non-coverage was a result of the lack of television footage, which might explain DR Congo.  But what about Chechnya? The Russian networks rolled footage of the Dagestan train this week.  And why does everyone know "Darfur" when there's little footage from there?

Whether racism or something else, it's appalling how large the blind spot is on major major major major events going on around the world.

Pax

Night and day you can find me Flogging the Simian

by soj on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 12:05:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Dying While Black (4.00 / 2)
Well here is another cynical thought:  it's news if it might affect the Western financial markets?  Iraq is big news, as would be anything in Saudi, because of the potential impact on oil prices.  I mean, in the US press the skew in coverage has become truly Dada-ist:  a typical MSM discussion of BSE in US cattle focuses not on potential morbidity or mortality, nor on potential liability, nor on poor process and possible corruption at USDA, but on possible effects on commodities prices.  It's as if every newspaper is written for the investor class.

So perhaps Darfur gets some coverage because there's some Western investment angle?  Chechnya gets a mention because of the oil angle perhaps, but not too much detail because that would embroil the press in a critique of Russia, which is supposed to be a Good Guy now that it is safely capitalist?  In the US of course any trouble in Cuba is always instant news -- a few dissidents imprisoned make headlines (just goes to show you what an evil tyrant that Castro is, don'cha know) while the abominable practises of Karimov barely get a mention outside the slogging, embattled prog/lefty journals where people like Fisk and Cockburn get page space.

Even the tsunami, in the Western press, was largely covered through the lens of stranded tourists, orphaned little white children, and of course "the impact on the tourist trade" (financial again).

I wonder sometimes what Chinese newspapers and TV news are like.  Does it take a hundred gwailo deaths before they typeset the headlines in Beijing?

The difference between theory and practise in practise ...

by DeAnander (de_at_daclarke_dot_org) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 12:26:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Dying While Black (none / 0)
sometimes Chechnya also gets a mention when "Chechen terrorists" stage a bombing outrage -- helps to beat the drums of fear back home.

The difference between theory and practise in practise ...
by DeAnander (de_at_daclarke_dot_org) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 12:29:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Now you mentioned Darfur, even Colin ... (none / 0)
.
Powell as a retired military man knew about Darfur!

● Oil!
Proven reserves at 700 million barrels and total reserves at five billion barrels.

You were thinking of ... genocide!? No wonder US Congress has not acted.

PS - China interest.

~~~

  • Ricin - Al Zarqawi - Bly Oregon - Niger ◊ @ European Tribune
    ~~~

    Amnesia and Gaza Genocide
    • by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 12:48:15 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Re: Now you mentioned Darfur, even Colin ... (none / 1)
    these are actually very small numbers, in practical terms (ad current production is also less than a tenth of the production of Nigeria or Angola).

    What may matter here is (i) the China angle (ii) the attempt to demonise lefty feelgooders who "care more about a few Iraqis killed today than about the many killed in Darfur", and also where the UN is not doing enouh to avoid being bashed...

    In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

    by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 04:33:46 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Re: Dying While Black (none / 0)
    I think it's also linked to the "it could happen to us" angle. We take the metro, we take the plane (with "serious companies") and all we know of Thailand is its beaches. The rest is alien, or indeed matters only to the money people who know a little bit more but care only about the practical impact for them.

    In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
    by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 04:27:14 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Re: Dying While Black (none / 0)
    DeAnander, I'd say your comments were only very slightly cynical ;-)

    While there were obviously lots of western tourist stories, I feel that the coverage of the tsunami was a little broader here, perhaps because of our proximity, media access and relationships in the region.  There was  continuing coverage of the impact on communities and on recovery/reconstruction efforts by the Oz broadsheet newspapers and public broadcasters (ABC and SBS) - this focused particularly on Aceh but also took in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.  

    by canberra boy (canberraboy1 at gmail dot com) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 09:41:12 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    And if it had been in the US (none / 1)
    there would have been headlines and those headlines would have contiued for longer and there would have been more worldwide governmental outrage and then another innocent country would have been bombed off of the face of the earth. Then again if it had been in Iran it would have barely been mentioned except in terms of "unrest" in a non-democratic country.
    The "world" really has skewed values.
    by observer393 on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 12:55:36 AM EST
    DRC - Sliver of Hope (none / 0)
    .
    UNOMOC
    Fighting continues on a daily basis between UNOMOC (UN peacekeeping) forces and entrenched guerillas aligned with either Rwanda or Uganda.


    Major-General Patrick Cammaert

    I first saw the general leading Dutch UN forces in border area of Ethiopia and Erithrea - excellent people manager with strategic insight.

    ~~~

  • Ricin - Al Zarqawi - Bly Oregon - Niger ◊ @ European Tribune
    ~~~

    Amnesia and Gaza Genocide
    • by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 01:11:30 AM EST
    Re: Dying While Black (none / 1)
    To be fair, Le Monde has a pretty extensive coverage of thse issues (and they have been on the frontlines on Chechnya, see my recent post on that topic), and I think that a number of other papers do provide coverage. The questions are:

    • do we read these stories when we see them?

    • is there any coverage on TV, seemingly the only one that matters?

    • why are these wars or deaths deemed to not concern us?


    In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
    by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 04:41:26 AM EST
    Southern Thailand (none / 0)
    Excellent story, thanks, Soj.

    The situation in Southern Thailand did get a little coverage late last year (see here and here for examples) after the Thai army rounded up hundreds of demonstrators on October 25 and stripped, handcuffed and loaded them face-down onto trucks to be taken away.  Around 80 people died of suffocation.

    This was the first and the last I have heard about the 'insurgency' in Southern Thailand.  

    BTW, how did you make the maps?  Most elegant!

    by canberra boy (canberraboy1 at gmail dot com) on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 10:04:17 AM EST
    Re: Dying While Black (none / 1)
    There is an understanable tendency to not cover simmering conflicts or political disputes on the front pages of newspapers or the top of broadcasts, unless of course there are particularly unusual events.

    Having said that, can you honestly say that the same thing does not apply to the non mainstream media like blogs? I have actually posted several diaries on similar issues to the ones you describe on Kos since I began and the response could be said to justify the coverage you compain about:

    27/12/04 Uzbekistan election frauds - Nil responses
    31/3/05 Inimidation prior to Zimbabwe election - 8 comments
    3/4/05 Thatcher's son banned from US after conviction for involvment in coup in Equatorial Guinnea - 7 comments
    25/4/05 Kalahari sand people being cleared by Botswana regime to exploit diamonds - 3 comments
    3/6/05 Evangelical Christianity and animist religions - 16 comments
    9/6/05 Marshall plan conditions made European colonialists pull out before proper local governance in place - 1 comment
    11/6/05 G8 fiance ministers agreed debt relief package- 0 comments.
    2/7/05 Justice not aid for Africa - 10 comments
    25/7/05 BBC's coverage of Niger - 5 comments

    While I tried to use provocative headlines to draw attention to these stories, I am obviously not suceeding as you can see from the current "recommended list" which includes "Pensacola editor stands up to Wal-Mart" with 92 comments and "CIA Spokesman Confirms Plame was an Undercover Operative" with 126.

    I'd also like to point out that the BBC coverage I praided this week is an example of how that organisation and some of the quality newspapers in the UK do give coverage to all of the stories you mention, even if it is in what might be called "background" or "human interest" coverage. On the other hand, the Niger coverage has been in the main news bulletins and I believe has helped the UN and other NGOs with their appeals for aid. That national donations started to pick up a few days after Hilary Andersson's first dispatches were broadcast.

    Let's praise the honorable exceptions to the lack of coverage you rightly bring up, as well as damning those who are only interested in how big a model's tits are.
     

    by Londonbear on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 11:17:40 AM EST
    Re: Dying While Black (none / 1)
    Can I tell you a particularly poignant story. If you visit Mose i Tunde (hope I got the spelling right - it's Victoria Falls) on the Zambian side there is a little area before you go down to the falls' valley. In it there is a war memorial to (I think) the North Rhodesian Rangers who fought in the two world wars. Listed by name are the obviously white officers. At the bottom there is a note to the effect "and  the (considerably more) native soldiers whose names are listed (in a book somewhere!!)"

    Unfortunately I cannot find the picture I took so I can post it and only half remember the exact inscription but it is exactly the mind set you describe.

    by Londonbear on Wed Jul 27th, 2005 at 11:29:45 AM EST
    Dying While Black | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)


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