The Scapegoat Has Escaped: Preventing Tribal Massacres in South Sudan

Photo: Dhieu Dok Minyang.
Jieeng civilian attacked on
Yei-Juba road

Political blame-games are well-known scapegoats. But as one SPLA commander told Hilde John as she related it in her new book, South Sudan: The Untold Story, the ‘scapegoat has escaped.’ No more Arabs to blame! It’s therefore time for the leadership in South Sudan to face our despicable realities head-on. Sinister political maneuvers should be stopped. Replacing Riek with Taban isn’t a solution. Tribal tokenism as a purported appeasement for Non-Jieeng tribes is a sociopolitical insult. What’s required is a long-term solution to tribal differences. “One Nation, One People” and such like slogans that are meant to encourage government supporters to show the world an impression that the government is enjoying a broad-based support are inadequate. They come out as a bought-support, a coerced political agenda where citizens have no choice but to do as told. Civilians with no choice aren’t happy people. And people with no choice can’t be seen as supportive people!

On the other hand, the slogan that “Kiir Must Go” wouldn’t end these killings nor will it bring an end to suffering in South Sudan. I agree “Kiir Must Go” but that he must go through the barrel of the gun is one thing I wouldn’t agree with. The failure of President Kiir to leave power peacefully is actually the failure of all political leaders in South Sudan. From Riek Machar, Lam Akol, Pagan Amum, among others, their failure to use their wisdom to prevail on Kiir is their own leadership failure. Kiir has to leave power but he has to leave power in a manner that will not lead to more suffering and bloodshed!

People have been angry for a long time and it’s time the leadership gets its head out of the mud. South Sudanese civilians have turned against one another. Whether it’s thugs in the street, SPLM-IO in the bushes or the local Equatorian tribes that are killing civilians in angry retaliatory attacks, the murders have to be stopped. However, the death will not stop as long as Juba adheres to the scapegoating narratives. We know the problem! What’s now required is a solution! Enforceable solution models with measurable outcomes.

When you don’t allow a breathing political space, you encourage civilians to bottled-up their feelings. When you don’t give the civil population and the political opposition an avenue to criticize government functions then you are building a culture of mistrust and clandestine political plots. Civil populations that feel targeted by government security apparatuses have no means of airing out their views; but when they  find a way to do so, they are silenced. What do you expect frustrated civilians to do?

The Jieeng people are targeted when they aren’t benefiting from the parochial elitism that has become Juba. But local Equatorian tribes feel targeted by SPLA security forces;and these tribes don’t’ see a difference between SPLA and Jieeng. They see them as one and the same. However, instead of leadership coming up with feasible and functional modalities to end this mistrust and develop a cohesive national agenda, the official fall back on the scapegoat that has already escaped. Blaming SPLM-in-Opposition isn’t going to stop innocent Jieeng civilians’ death in Equatoria. The people of Equatoria need to feel that the government is their government. They need to understand that Jieeng civilians aren’t the government. But this isn’t going to be possible as long as SPLA target civilians in Equatoria. Killing of civilians and burning down villages of those assumed to be supporters of ‘rebels’, has been used by Khartoum starting with Al-Azhari in the mid-1950s.

Jieeng civilians are as much victims of Kiir’s government as some Equatorian civilians. Systemic failures have turned tribes against one another. The leadership needs to devise a strategy and send a multi-tribal leadership team to all 10 states (or the imaginary 28) in the process to encourage inter-tribal dialogue. But this is not a possibility as long as war is still on-going. The fallacious assumption that if there’s no fighting in Juba then South Sudan is peaceful, is dangerous. A comprehensive end to the war is the only solution to the senseless murders of innocent civilians. Every single warlord has to come to the peace table. Chest-thumbing will only make things worse. Peace among tribes is only possible if the war is ended comprehensively with no single warlord in the bush. And this comprehensive peace shouldn’t be brought about by lies, political games and using money to buy support. All parties have to understand and accept peace without coercion.

As long as the leadership in Juba sticks to blame games, our civilians will turn against one another in masses and that’s Rwanda in the making. There should be no more excuses possible here. The blame game should stop! 1991 and 2013 should not be used as an excuse to get away with incompetence! Civilians are dying. 2013 was an ethnic targeting of Nuer by government forces. This time, it’s the average civilians who have turned against one another! This should concern everyone.

How Anti-Racism Activists Support Racism Inadvertently

Tim Wise and the rest of anti-racism activists spent most of their activism time lecturing in schools and colleges about 'white privilege', 'racism' and 'white supremacy.' This campaign sounds like they are faulting 'whites' for being blessed with their socioeconomic and sociopolitical status! Well, this was a designed social status; but it's a 'blessing' to them nonetheless! But seriously, it's obvious that the activists' intentions in anti-racism campaign are noble. They want 'whites' to think inclusively and acknowledge their 'privileged' status in order to effect inclusion and social change. No one can disagree with that discourse. Well, bigoted people would disagree!

Essentially, going by the face-value rationalization of such activism, a homeless John in New York City is 'privileged' but Dr. Cornel West isn't 'privileged' because the later is 'black' and the former 'white'! Again, this is not what Wise and company mean! It's the situation they inspire as they lose themselves in anti-racism activism.

However, there's something anti-racism activists forget in their anti-racism lectures. They present people, other than 'whites', as weak emotionally and less than they are. "Call me a 'honky' and it's silly but don't call them 'nigger' because they'll not like it."  "You're black and unprivileged but I'm white and privileged." "We are white and terrible people! We are ignorant and prejudiced." That is, I assume,  not their intention but their approach is more disempowering than empowering. "Blacks" can't take being insulted but "whites' are emotionally strong enough to take insults and dismiss them! ugh?

The above attitudes also compromise anti-racism efforts by antagonizing racist 'whites' and thereby making them defensive and more aggressive. People who can be shamed into positive action are not bigots but those who want some encouragement not to be mere bystanders!

But any attempt to antagonize racist bigots is the arsenal they need to use to fuel their hate-filled crusades! They need well-structured education, not belligerent activism!

Projecting 'whites' as horrible people (even when they are) is self-serving for anti-racism activists like Wise. They project themselves as the good 'whites' while racially defensive 'whites' as evil people. This does nothing but makes the society more divided and hate-filled.

Building alliances, rather than shaming 'racist' people, will not compromise the whole anti-racism enterprise. Direct shaming as an approach, no doubt, leads to drawing of lines in the sand: Camp A vs. Camp B. The methodical approach that needs to be adopted is one that makes racist 'whites' understand that diversity is an evolutionary reality: THE NEW NORMAL! The world isn't going backward but forward. The sooner they get used to this reality, the sooner they'll feel better or resigned to it! Slavery ended! Segregation (the overt one) ended! Colonization ended. Apartheid ended! This is the general, historical trend these 'racist whites' need to understand; otherwise, they are going against an inevitable wave! They are, essentially, only making life hard for themselves in a world that's growing increasingly diverse and inclusive (on principle).

However, instead of approaching these 'racist whites' with an attitude that tells them "we understand your feelings but listen to what we are saying first', anti-racism campaigners give these 'racist whites' an impression that tells them: "to hell with your feelings; we'll force what we are saying on you!' This is bad! The latter approach foments negative feelings and exacerbates racial hatred. This is something anti-racism activists like Tim Wise need to understand. They are affecting the victims of racism without knowing! The antagonism aimed at 'white racists' by anti-racism activists doesn't hit back at 'white activists' but at the doomed 'colored world'!

But the worst part of these activists' campaign lies in how they undermine the victims of racism and all minorities. One of the annoying fallacies is the idea of 'white supremacy' and 'white privilege.'
Well, even the use of terms like 'white' and 'black' is even racist given their historical origin!  But let's remember that 'privilege' is a universal problem!

Every given society has dominant and dominated groups, whether economically or politically! Socially speaking, groups are self-centered and work for their own benefit. This is not a quintessential reality [only] evolutionarily restricted to people of European descent. There are different 'indices of differentiation', as Paul Gilroy would say, in every given society in the world. Europe and nations of European descent use color 'white' as a distinguishing, discriminatory parameter. So why are anti-racism using a modernist discriminatory term?

Instead of treating 'white supremacy' as a fallacious state of mind, they've socially reconstructed it and use it as an explanatory tool. The use of the very idea prejudiced people use is counter-productive. Political and economic dominance should be separated from the fallacy of supremacy.

Dominance comes in all colors in all parts of the world. Talking of 'white supremacy' gives us an impression that it actually exists. What exists isn't supremacy but political and economic dominance. This socioeconomic dominance births this annoying idea of 'white privilege.' To sound trivial but at the same time serious, I would say that supremacy would only be the case if we had people who don't get sick, don't die, don't hate, don't worry, don't get jealous..! These aliens don't exist, do they?

Since 'white' is a discriminatory social construct, it has to be dismissed instead of being appropriated and given a socially acceptable meaning! It's a social construct anyway, right? Obviously, it was used by Europeans to self-elevate and denigrate the rest of humanity without remorse or compunction. I wonder  why 'white' anti-racism activists use terms like 'white' and 'black' when they know they  [black, brown, yellow, colored...] are the heart of hate and racism and the fallacious feeling of supremacy. When the likes of Tim Wise call themselves 'white' and 'privileged', they are unwittingly buying into the erroneous idea of 'supremacy' without knowing: pure, beautiful and godly!