Thursday, August 27, 2009
I’m going to ask you a question that sounds really simple. Do you care about people?
Most of you probably would say yes. If not, you’re probably aware that my column won’t really line up with your interests or beliefs, but thanks for trying.
This time, think deeply about the question before you answer. Do you really, truly care about other people?
Chances are you care deeply about loved ones and friends. Many of us are guilty of caring about someone when it’s convenient and then dropping the ball later, but no one’s perfect. The really hard part of the question is deciding how much you care about the people you don’t know.
Sometimes the people who really need our care and concern are so separated from our daily lives that we push them to the back of our minds and forget about them — or we just don’t hear about them at all. It doesn’t mean we are bad people. We are just part of an age that implores us to see what is directly in front of us as being urgent and dismiss everything else in procrastination or defeat.
In that respect, human rights advocacy isn’t necessarily at the forefront of the average American college student’s mind. To begin a more advocacy-oriented way of thinking, I encourage you to disband the stereotypes in your mind of what social justice is all about.
Human rights aren’t just about feeding starving children in Africa or protecting refugees. There are human rights abuses within the United States and within your hometowns that are equally important. Start by considering those issues that are in close proximity to your life.
It is my opinion that the University of Kansas takes great pride in having culturally aware and socially conscious students. What should we expect from ourselves as the student body? So many groups such as Oxfam International, Amnesty International, Students Against Sweatshops, Support International and many more try to get us to care about prominent social injustices, but most of the time all they get is a 10-minute-deep response — the audience cares about it for 10 minutes, but then they just go back to living their everyday lives.
Schools and recruiters place such a high emphasis on community service that all we do is log hours and keep track of how much our competitors are doing.
It’s not even about being a service to the community anymore; it’s about the community being a service to us. By changing how you think about social justice and basic human rights, maybe you will get more out of these discussions or your community service projects.
I don’t think students completely disregard what they hear about these issues; they just need to assess how to incorporate human rights awareness into their daily lives.
It’s easy to coast on autopilot without much concern for outside problems, but it’s much more effective in one’s life to pay attention and, when necessary, advocate change.
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