South Sudan (2011- ) is the southern part of Sudan, which became independent on July 9th 2011. It became the 193rd country in the world and the 54th in Africa. It is west of Ethiopia and north of Uganda.
Independence came after one of the worst wars of the past 50 years: 2 million died in the worst genocide since Hitler and 5 million fled their homes (Alek Wek among them). And that in a part of Sudan where only about 8 million live. Countless others were made into slaves. It was the largest jihad in living memory.
The north and south are very different places:
- The north is mostly Arab in language and Muslim by religion, like neighbouring Egypt, but few are Arab by blood. Most live near the Nile that winds its way through the wastelands of the Sahara.
- In the south English and Christianity are more common, as in neighbouring Uganda to the south. Few are Muslim, some are Christians, most follow native religions. It is mostly grassland and forest.
The British, who ruled Sudan till 1956, knew this but made it into one country all the same – which broke apart into civil war before it was even independent.
War lasted from 1955 to 1972 and again from 1983 to 2005, making it Africa’s longest civil war. Peace was made by George Bush, of all people – he who famously does not care about black people. Even though the war received little press in the West, it was an issue among many of the Christians who voted for him as president.
The south has 75% of the oil of the old Sudan, but the north has the refineries to process it and the pipes that go to the Red Sea. From 2005 to 2011 the north and south equally divided the money made from the oil, but now with independence there is no deal. South Sudan still has some unused oil fields but many are owned by Total, a French oil company.
South Sudan also has gold, chromium, iron and hardwood. With its vast grasslands and fertile soil it could become a bread basket of Africa.
The government is weak. It is made up of guerrilla fighters and has few computers. Many of its tax men cannot even read.
The country is among the least developed in the world: it has few good roads and 85% cannot read. In a place where most people make their living as small-time farmers, many have been driven off their land by war.
Its northern border is still in dispute – which is partly why it does not appear yet on Google Maps. It could easily touch off another war in time.
The people are Dinka (the largest group), Nuer, Shilluk and other things. Some are Acholi, like in Uganda. Most in government are Dinka.
South Sudan does not take in the Nuba, who were also subject to genocide and jihad, who are largely Christian, and who are still fighting to the north.
See also:
Congrats to Southern Sudan. Man, they have a looooooong road ahead of them.
As for the Brits merging incompatible peoples…wow, that reminds me of my own homeland.
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Abagond:
The genocide in Sudan is a painful life lesson that should never be forgotten. If the s**t hits the fan, don’t expect the powers that be to come to the rescue. Because of slavery and colonization, former colonial empires are often hesitant to intervene in Africa, even if their inaction results in millions of innocent black people being killed……Rwanda and Sudan are examples of said mindset. As it relates to the religous aspect of the genocide, I’m not shocked that black muslims would justify killing other black people in the name of Allah. Islam and Christianity were forced upon blacks in Africa, but islam has become the nightmare that never goes away. All of the senseless killing and disrespect of women, Why!? At this point and time, any black man or woman who are still followers of the religion need their brains examined, because they’re crazy. No one should put a religion or country above their race, Period! Africa has to defend Africa, because the United Nations and other nations have made it crystal clear that they still don’t respect and value the lives of black people.
Tyrone
Reality Mode
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Quite revealing post.. the native Sudanese people are poor and in distress (from orchestrated chaos like pawns played against each other in a chess game) suffering from the tribulations of war and poverty while the so-called first world nations (in part spearheaded by the IMF and the World Bank) scoop up control and/or ownership of Africa’s enormous resources and material wealth.That tide needs to turn! This game has been played too long! White supremacy/racism has got to go!
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Fascinating…..the world only cares when white people die, FTW!!!!
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I think it should be up to the individuals of nations to tend to their own conflicts. Looking at the history of the United States and other Western nations, I get seriously paranoid about foreign intervention. Especially when this intervention is in a developing country.
Anyways, I hope that the North avoids going the Sharia route now that the South is free. Also, I wish the people of Southern Sudan great luck in building their new found nation!
“White supremacy/racism has got to go!”
-It’s more about exploitation than race.
Multinational corporations and international banksters are only a minority of whites. These ppl value their money more than they do their whiteness. It’s best to avoid divisive race talk when discussing this type of injustices. Believe it or not, many whites who are cognitive of these issues genuinely care. It does more harm than good, risking alienating ppl with divisive language.
Plus, let’s not forget that many of the members of these tiny non-white elites of poor nations also do great harm to their respective societies. Often in collusion with big players in the West.
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Great post, The Darfur conflict has been something that ive been concerned about for the last few years and im glad that south Sudan is now a separate nation. My hope now is that their able to protect their fossil fuels and build up a strong military to protect themselves from the arabized Afro-Sudanese militia of the North.
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Lets hope things go well there, but there is that friggin oil. It is a magnet for trouble. And lets not forget the chinese who have been very very active in Sudan in past few years behind the scenes.
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“White supremacy/racism has got to go!”
-It’s more about exploitation than race.
“It’s best to avoid divisive race talk when discussing this type of injustices. Believe it or not, many whites who are cognitive of these issues genuinely care. It does more harm than good, risking alienating ppl with divisive language.”
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Instead of giving a lengthy dissertation to defend/explain/argue my position, I’ll simply say you are entitled to YOUR opinions, as I am entitled to MINE I do not agree with your response to what I wrote. And that’s okay! Nonetheless, thanks for sharing YOUR feelings on the matter. : ))
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@Matari
I got a really abrasive vibe from your reply. I have NO idea why you got so offended by my comment. I was not attacking you nor attempting to start an argument. Trust, I used to think the same way as you, but I have grown out of looking at the world that way. I would genuinely like to know why you disagree so strongly, but it’s okay if you don’t want share.
Personally, I simply feel that whites and blacks should work together to fight these types of injustices bc even though it looks racist on the outside, it’s about so much more than that.
I only felt the need to share my opinion(is that a crime?) bc third world exploitation is a subject I am really passionate about.
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I’ve gotten into enough debates with ignorant white folks on youtbe to crack the surface of how they think. If you inject race into any argument, the first thing they do is become extremely defensive. Once their emotions get thrown in, any logic they may have had gets thrown out. They attempt to rationalize facts and clear cases of exploitation in all attempts to avoid being called racist(call anything racist and they will irrationally believe you are personally talking about them whether they are racist or not).
I’ve learned that these issues wield better results when you sweep the racial aspects under the rug.
Now all I need is a way to include fiscal conservatives in the fight. For them(especially libertarians), the second you attack some big money making institution you’ve lost them!
p.s. is that why you got offended Matari? Did you think I was calling you a racist?
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I don’t believe that the press coverage was insignificant
in the west, there was a movie about it. and I have heard about it alot, maybe not enough. I will tell you about something in this country that gets almost no press it is the blowing up of most of the appalachian mountains to obtain coal. and the impact of the poor people in the region.
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Cynic,
You’ve got some good points there. I’ve noticed too that people try to pull the “anything but racism” card to the point of actually trying to defend and rationalize horrible crimes against humanity in order to absolve themselves. My view is that this is a flaw on them, not on how we speak to them. The sad thing is that the plight of these victims should be more important than some commentors ego or feelings. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a duck. Exploitation, that is intertwined with racism, is still exploitation, and vice versa. I don’t think we should cater to their need for “cookies” and “back pats” when discussing this sort of things (although I agree with you that it does make these discussions more difficult if we don’t, but then how do we avoid that?) If they see it as divisive just because the word “racism” is involved, then they probably should get a reality check anyways, right?
@Dave,
I’m sorry, but it seems like your trying to derail this. I highly doubt what they’re going through is genocide. They’re not seeing their friends and family murdered for their race or religion.
But, onto your post…
Actually very little was said about it or done, considering the death counts and horrible situation. Keep in mind that the U.S. has hardly been shy about intervention in places, but those places usually are “important” to the U.S. That means places like Darfur and Sudan are not important enough to warrant our direct intervention (even if it is a horrible genocide), much like Rwanda. The common theme with this is that if people are black or “too brown” people pretend to care while completely ignoring it. It’s okay if they are exploited because people here can just pretend it isn’t happening. And that movie you mentioned, is it by Uwe Boll? I saw that, it was very hard to watch, but rewarding because it showed just how horrible it was. Sad thing is, just because there was a movie made does not mean it is important or talked about by people.
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@sunnydalmu: Unless there is oil or something else which interests western capital there is no political pressure nor will in the governments to get involved.
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sam,
I agree completely with your point, it seems that western nations only intervene when theirs something they have interest in like oil or opium in Afghanistan and then try to make a righteous excuse to justify entering other nations affairs. I read that south Sudan has oil but im not sure if they started mining it yet.
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@sunnydalum
I see what your trying to say, but we are on two totally different wavelengths.
-The main motive when it comes to exploitation is making money.
-3rd world exploitation is only loosely or indirectly intertwined with racism-through the history of colonialism- and not contemporary racial motives.
-Wealthy western white elites do not care about or relate to regular white people. The only reason why they don’t exploit regular whites as bad as they do is bc the citizens of poorer nations have a weaker defense.
Once you realize this, you see why the whole “keeping it real” stance doesn’t even make sense. Not only are you not really keeping it real in the first place, you’re marginalizing genuinely ignorant(I believe there is a difference btwn true ignorance & hate) people.
________________________________
Back on topic. I got chills watching this. It’s nice seeing the creation of a new nation.
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@sunnydalum I don’t know if you are american or not.
but if you are, the reason you don’t care about these poor people in your own country is the lack of melanin in thier skin. maybe you are the one who is trying to derail my comment.
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Even though I’m going off topic, I’d like to respond to Dave. The reason why poor Whites don’t get attention in the media is because of…you guessed it White racism.
Blacks (and other people of color) are the only backwards, lazy, corrupt, uncivilized, and immoral people left on this earth. I remember seeing a poster on this site who said something like, “90% of the White people that she knew were well-off, hard working, good, etc. While 90% of the Black people that she knew were poor, lazy, bad, etc.” That’s exactly why we only see Blacks whether in America or in some other country, in all their dysfunctional glory, while Whites in the same condition fly under the radar.
That’s exactly why Islam is painted as backwards and uncivilized. Most of it’s followers are brown and black. Terrorism is linked to Islam while the fighting (including terrorist acts) in Ireland between the Catholics and Protestants is hardly ever mentioned. The sexual abuse of the many, many children by Catholic priests isn’t used as a reason to implore Catholics to leave their, yet women are encouraged to leave Islam because of their repression. Where’s the campaign against the FLDS? Why the double standard? Wrong is wrong.
You hear stories all the time about corrupt African countries, yet the hell hole that is Russia isn’t talked about at all. When the Greek crisis became news a couple of weeks ago, I heard saw many posters mentioning how corruption runs rampant there. Yet, according to the media, Greece is tycoons and yummy food.
White suffering and dysfunction can’t be publicized and examined. That would threaten White racists beliefs that they are superior, while Blacks and other POC are inferior.
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I guess that would make sense if all the people that controled media coverage thought the way you do , maybe some of them do , most of them don’t.
The only thing alot of these scum care about is the color green. Alot of newspapers, and other big news media happened to be owned by big corporate parasites who have made billions in the appalachia region over the years exploiting the coal money from the region, and purposely destroying these people, and guess what if these people were black, there would be more organizations helping and outraged, Negro college fund, NAACP, Jessie Jackson, Farrakan, etc.
these peope have no one protecting them.
Bobby Kennedy tried to and look what happened to him. Look into it for yourself before you rush to judgement.
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Abagond:
Hopefully, South Sudan can be a catalyst for other blacks in North Africa who want to be free of radical muslims, communists, marxists, etc. Despite what the media chooses to show us, black people still exist in North Africa……Sudan, Libya, Chad, Mali, Morocco, Algeria, etc. If we fight for black people, we fight for all of them, not just those in sub-saharan africa……North Africa belongs to us, not Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and so forth. We should never concede our black sisters and brothers to anyone.
Tyrone
Reality Mode
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Long live South Sudan! May all those taken into slavery to Khartoum and elsewhere be set free to go home! And may the Nuba also get their Uhuru!
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