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Discussing the Diaspora as seen through an internal Black lens
5 Million Africans Killed, Nobody Cares; 7 Apes Die and the World Is Outraged
June 24th, 2008
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Npr’s Fresh Air:
In the summer of 2007, Brent Stirton took a photograph that shocked the world.
It came from a conflict zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where long-simmering wars have killed more than five million and displaced millions more. But this was no mere war photo.
It was a picture of a murdered mountain gorilla — one of seven of the rare beasts that had been massacred in their jungle preserve. Stirton’s photos were smuggled out of the country, and they sparked an international outcry.
Mountain gorillas are among the world’s most endangered species; only an estimated 720 of the primates remain alive today.
Yes, forget the people in the Congo; what about the apes!
Listen to the audio of the interview here.
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CNN reports that:
“IRC President George Rupp said the loss of life is equivalent to the entire population of Denmark, or the state of Colorado, dying within a decade.
Even with the country’s violence, the IRC found that most of the deaths were from non-violent causes such as malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malnutrition.
Nearly half the deaths were among children younger than five, even though they are only 19 percent of the population, the IRC said.
The group said the national rate of mortality is nearly 60 percent higher than the average in the sub-Saharan region.
You can get a sense of what’s gone down in the Congo for over a decade from articles like:
UN probes 10 years of Congo slaughter
Rape, brutality ignored to aid Congo peace
But who gives a damn about all that. Those are just African booty-scratching animals anyway. Let us weep for the gorillas.
I don’t buy Brett Stirton’s excuse about why this is for second. He says in the interview that people can’t get their head around a number like 5 million and are just overwhelmed by it, thinking it’s too big and there’s nothing we can do. But on the other hand, well 7 gorillas, we can do something about that. If this was happening on half this scale in a remote European country full of white people like Bulgaria; it would have been stopped long ago, and somebody would have been punished for it. See Kosovo.
But not in Africa – only when the gorillas’s die.
Also check this previous post about White Folks Going Ape-Shit Over Animals Again
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6 Responses to “5 Million Africans Killed, Nobody Cares; 7 Apes Die and the World Is Outraged”
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Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.
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Dude .. Brent Stirton _is_ African. He’s been shining a spotlight on African realities
and conflict zones for 20 years. And if you look at his other interview
(www.worldpressphoto.org) you’ll see him saying that if this is what it takes to attract
global media attention to the DRC, then so be it. And if you read the National Geographic
cover story on which that NPR interview is based, you’ll see it covers the broader picture
of what’s going on in DRC. I agree some parts of the media are sensationalizing the gorillas
and it’s ridiculous compared to the human bloodbath. But at least Americans are now at
least hearing about the place. My point is, don’t kill the messenger. Bash the mainstream
American media for not mentioning the DRC at all in the past 10 years. But don’t knock
the guy that just got it on front pages everywhere. At least it starts the conversation.
Hey D.
I couldn’t agree more. While the fact that they’re endangered likely gave the gorilla-deaths weight than they would have otherwise gotten, it’s a sad fact that people tend not to care about things going in on far away places if big numbers are involved.
BTW, I made a post involving you on my blog and about segregation in the blogosphere, just my thoughts and stuff. I’d like to know what you think about it.
bluelinchpin.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/thoughts-on-segregation-in-the-blogosphere/
(Just to point out, not saying that the fact it was in Africa didn’t have anything to do with the lack of caring. But the numbers thing does apply generally, though unfortunately you are right about if it happened somewhere closer to home and where white people live, there’d be outrage…take Zimbabwe for example, compared to white countries where very similar things happened yet suddenly we had to do something there but not for the people in Zimbabwe…)
I remember in Katrina they sent a airplane to save ten dogs. It’s so messed up.
Perhaps our (Black people) numbers will have to drop some more. They can set up reservations for the few of us left. As the numbers continue to drop over the years, you’ll hear people claim how their great-grandmother was part Negro.
Stephen Bess: I’m not sure I’m understanding your point - or rather if I’m misunderstanding it. From Wikipedia:
“The total population of Africa is estimated at 922 million (as of 2005). It has doubled over the past 28 years, and has quadrupled over the past 55 years (UN estimates. Population is projected to reach one billion before 2010[2].”
Which is NOT say that it’s not a real horror what’s going on in Congo (and Somalia).