Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, isn’t much of a president. His style of government and his long term is more representative of a dictatorship. Many Sudanese-Americans argue that he is a dictator acting in his own self-interests. Omar al-Bashir has an eight-year-old international warrant out for his arrest on charges of war crimes and genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
There are ongoing protests in Sudan around the country. The Sudanese government had reacted with violent tendencies towards peaceful protestors. Many are saying, “they turned violent,” that is not the case. The government has bombed outside of residential buildings. They released a statement saying, “they want to end looting.” In my opinion, these are all excuses. Omar’s time is up, and his presidency should have ended many, many years ago. He fails to care for his people with rising fuel and bread prices. I think any person in a place of power does not want to lose their power, its human nature. Omar al-Bashir has been in office since 1993, before I was even born, and I’ll be eighteen soon. A few days ago, he released a statement saying he will not back down and plans to stay in office, while the protests go on.
I can’t really imagine what the people of Sudan and their family members must be feeling right now. I live in a democratic country with term limits, checks and balances, people can vote, and it counts. For that, I am privileged. I could never imagine living in an oppressive state and a man being president for my entire life. Sudan needs a fresh face, new ideas, and a new way of government to ensure that there is never a case like Omar al-Bashir in the future. Sudan isn’t a part of the world we necessarily ignore or don’t know about, but from what I’ve seen, not many of my peers are aware of Sudan’s situation. Over the years it seems that levels of empathy have severely declined and just continue falling within the generations. There are people that live in the United States, and are unaware of our own situation, which isn’t comparable to Sudan in anyway.
Like I’ve said before, Americans are privileged. We, as Americans, have the power and the means to bring change into the world, to help others or simply bring light to an issue. Many Americans choose not.