Hate Crimes on Long Island

Earlier this month there was a tragic incident that occurred here on Long Island, close to home. It was a horrific reminder that sometimes human rights violations occur right in our own neighborhoods. And if we tolerate it in our own neighborhoods, would we really care about human rights violations around the world?

The victim of the incident was a 36 year-old man from Ecuador, brutally beaten and stabbed by 7 white teenagers. The reason? The teenagers were in search of someone "Mexican" to beat up. Based on the color of his skin, he was tracked down and murdered in a blatant racist hate crime. It is terrible that these teenagers deliberately isolated someone who was culturally different, not to mention their obvious stereotyping.

But this is not the first hate crime committed on Long Island. There have been various others, mostly targeted towards a growing Hispanic population on an island that happens to be in close proximity to one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. (New York City). As several people mentioned tonight in a vigil to remember and celebrate the life of Marcelo Lucero (the Ecuadorean man who lost his life tragically), how can such tragedies occur in a country that has elected its first African-American president? [Read the full story here.]

It leads me to ponder the words of one of the faculty who spoke earlier this evening: how are we contributing to a culture of inaction, rhetoric, and silence? Are we? And what are the consequences of that? Privately we may shake our heads in disbelief, but what do we do publicly to challenge those norms of inaction, of words that become rhetoric but ring hollow in the wake of the silence that follows? How do we change all this and teach the next generation about the value of human beings regardless of their skin color, their shape, their language, their culture, their religion, or their gender?

Something else that rang in my head this evening was the words "never again".... The president of our university echoed those in her remarks; but where have we heard them before? We heard them echoed after the Rwandan genocide - that "never again" will the world standby as genocide occurs. I am tempted to think that is yet more rhetoric, falling from lips to floor in silence and inaction as we look around us, not just here on Long Island but in the U.S. and in the world as more atrocities happen. And yet again the communities stand by and do nothing because of no personal vested interest or gain. It is no wonder the next generation still has yet to learn the value and dignity of human beings.....

Where do you stand? And how will you play your part? I hope that I can answer these questions for myself and attempt to transform inaction to action, rhetoric to meaningful dialogue, and silence into voice. Be a voice, be a neighbor, be a friendly look or hello, be involved, and be a part of transforming our communities.

Civilians in Darfur still suffer

Civilians in Darfur still continue to suffer, despite UN military intervention there. Human Rights Watch reported that the UN military forces are still not able to protect the civilians who are trying to return to some sort of normal semblance of life. There have been at least 40 civilians killed in recent fighting between the government-backed army and the rebel forces, according to the Human Rights Watch report. Darfur still suffers, and we in the west are still sitting idly by.... Have you seen anything about Darfur in the U.S. media? Does anyone push for peace in Darfur in our government? What do the presidential candidates say about this? We sit idly by when we need to push our governments to contribute to a stronger resolution for peace in this region. It has been too long, and yet there has been no real action taken.

Add your voice here to urge the next president to take action. They need 20,000 more voices by Election Day.

U.S. Presidential Elections

Some issues (not exhaustive but what come to mind right now) I think we need to think about as elections draw near:

• What are the candidates' stand on Darfur?
  
• What are their records for human rights related activities?
  
• Do their VP picks have the same stand on Darfur and human-rights issues?
  
• What do they consider the "middle class"?
  
• Are they really looking out for the interests of a majority of the American people or just the wealthy few?
  
• What about their stand on the Iraq war which is affecting too many people at this point?
  
• Are the candidates really considering what issues we face as Americans, or are they obstinately pursuing a one-sided view of how things must be?
  
• Do they understand what goes on in working class families and what struggles are occurring, or do they only espouse they do and yet live lives of great comfort that 6-figure salaries can so lushly afford?
  
• Do they realistically and seriously consider the issues facing educators and education today or are they still interested in the privatization of education and pushing "No Child Behind" theories that fall apart at the state level - but that's okay with them because that's really the states' business anyway?
  

Maybe this seems out of place in some ways to post on a blog such as this, but I feel that it is important to think about. We are a voice - a voice not only that speaks out, but also that will be raised in support of a new leader of the United States come November. We need to think about our choice, not just related to our personal interests, but the well-being and harmony of the majority of the "people" (I say a majority because the rich and wealthy don't find themselves in the same situation the rest of us do). Not only that, but we Americans need to understand that the choice we make come November impacts the rest of the world as well..... So I encourage you to think about it.

This isn't an election where so-called "moral" issues are at stake; this is an election where our very real and practical future is at stake. It is about how to decrease the ever-widening income gap between the rich and the poor; it is about how to bring social justice to the table; it is about living in harmony not false superiority with our global community; it is about embracing more than the elite; it is about taking a stand and making sure the United States isn't frowned upon with disgust and it is about so much more. I think these are the very real and sobering sort of "moral" issues we really need to consider. The rest of the world is holding their breath, hoping that we will make the right choice on November 4th. I hope we can too.

Security and Safety: Georgia

The war between Georgia and Russia started late summer and it has been three weeks since Russia agreed to withdraw their troops. But what of the people? So the big boys decided they're no longer going to bully on the playground; but do they think of what they've left behind? Do they care? Apparently not. Security has continued to deteriorate in Georgia; safety of the people in the Gori District bordering South Ossetia is in jeopardy. The people need to be protected.... They should not be victimized or tortured because of someone else's political agenda....

See the Human Rights Watch article here, which describes some of the incidences of violence occurring in this area.

Human Rights and Social Welfare

I have been away from my blog for a while but I realize that being a voice for others does not stop with this blog. It doesn't stop when I'm a student nor does it stop when I am in South Africa at a conference. As a student in Social Welfare, I realize it should not stop at all. I am inspired and stirred when I hear certain people speak, and in conferences like the one I am at, I see the atrocities humanity has committed in the name of self-interest, pride, policy, and economics. I see ideologies that have held people captive and have downtrodden the powerless. I see language and policies that have re-colonized those that we thought were now "free" from colonization. And to this topic, I can only be humbled that I was able to present my paper on some of that "language" and ideology at this conference - the 34th Biennial Congress of the International Association of Schools of Social Work.

I realize how human rights is such an integral part of social work and social welfare, but more than that - it should be a part of our general society and world view. However, though that should be the case, in actuality it is so little. So I am re-assessing, re-assessing how I want to spend the rest of my school years beyond what I do. Studies are important, but it is also important to be involved, to speak out, to pursue things, and to care about those who are weak, who do not have a voice, who are oppressed, who are taken advantage of. As a student of social welfare, do I really want to spend my time behind my books and theorizing in my classes or do I want to combine that with an actual carrying out of those principles and values my discipline have? I think I choose the latter because then I would be a true student of social welfare - believing in social justice and social action and carrying out those beliefs in a world that I'm such a part of.

And to my readers - whoever you may be; human rights is not just left to lawyers (and now to social workers/social welfare people) but it is something that everyone in every profession should take up. Everyone can play a part in human rights no matter their profession or their position. To me I have noticed while spending some days here in South Africa, the most basic part of human rights that we can carry out on a day-to-day basis is treating those whom society has deemed to be at a "lower" status than us with dignity and grace. I am not perfect nor are those around me, but I have seen how it can become ingrained in us -- our manner of dignity and grace towards others or the lack thereof; and I am conscious - conscious of my mistakes, my failures to do so, and my promises to do better. Won't you join me too in this human rights movement of a smaller scale, and be a voice?