The other night I had a chance to watch “Skin” –a documentary about apartheid in South Africa. The narrative begins in the ‘60s. While watching, I had assumed the film’s events all took place several decades ago.
But in the closing credits, I was reminded that this story of racial segregation through apartheid continued until 1994, when I was in college. I was shocked as I thought back to how ignorant I was to this appalling practice.
I was an international business major and considered myself to be fairly educated on world events in college. But the things that stand out to me during that period are:
- Kurt Cobain’s death
- O.J. Simpson and the glove
- Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan
- Leonardo and Kate on the “Titanic”
But looking back, I had little knowledge and concern for much more significant events, including:
– The reality of apartheid, state-sanctioned segregation, in South Africa.
– The economic depression in post-Soviet countries—a crisis now considered twice as bad as our Great Depression. (Many of their countries’ GDPs fell by 40 percent, according to the World Bank.)
– The horrors of the Rwandan genocide—where over 800,000 people were murdered.
These are world-changing events. I am shocked and embarrassed about my ignorance and inaction, and I hope to never be that way again. As a father, I want to teach my kids to always have their eyes and hearts wide open.
I believe that the current generation of students are far more engaged, informed, and interested globally than ever before. I see this progress and celebrate that we are finally getting our eyes off of us for just a moment to see and hopefully respond to some of the world’s greatest needs.
What are the issues we ignore that we need to awaken to today?
February 21, 2012
I think the plight of orphans is a huge crisis around the world, especially in Africa because of AIDS. One other issue that comes to mind is sexual slavery and trafficking, it truly is a worldwide tragedy that doesn’t get nearly the amount of attention it should.