LoganVitale

4/12/15
PerspectivesonRightsandJustice:
QuestioningEducation
Educationwise,IhavelearnedmorethissemesterthanIhaveinthepastthree
yearsofcollege.Fromclasses,explorerseminars,traveling,andfirsthandexperiences,
thesepastfourmonthshaveopenedmyeyestoanewworldofknowledge.AsIcontinue
learningnewinformation,Ireflectuponmypastsixteenyearsasastudent.Iquestion
whyinmyprivatehighschoolandcollegeIwasnevertaughtaboutsuchsignificant
eventsaroundtheglobe.ItsaddensmethatwhileIhavelearnedextensivelyaboutthe
HolocaustandracialsegregationintheUnitedStates,Iwascompletelyunawareof
humanrightsinjusticesliketheHereroNamaGenocide,andknewverylittleabout
Apartheid.IfeellikemyeducationhasbeenfilteredthroughaUScentriclens,
preventingmefrombeingatrulyglobalcitizen.
Talkingabouthumanrightsviolationsisuncomfortableingeneral,whetherthese
violationshaveoccurredwithinoroutsideoftheUnitedStates.Itisdiscouragingto
admitthathorribleatrocitiesarestilloccurringthroughouttheglobe,butitistoodifficult
toavoidtalkingabouthumanrightsviolationsthatoccurintheUnitedStates,giventheir
proximityandournewsmediaculture.Furthermore,weareinnatelyinterestedinthis
news,evenifitisdistressing,sinceitisoccurringinourowncountryandispersonally
relevant.However,thisisnotthecasewhenitcomestointernationalevents.Sincewe
donthaveanydirectconnectiontotheseincidentsandarethusinnatelylessinterested,
thereislesspressureforschoolsandthemediatobringlighttotheseissues.

Acknowledgingtheatrocitiesthatarecurrentlyoccurringelsewhereintheworldalso
createspressureforintervention,whenthisisnotalwaysintheinterestoftheUnited
States.GoingonSemesteratSeaforcesustolearnaboutwhatisgoingoninother
countries,especiallythecountrieswearevisiting.Forexample,moststudentsonthis
voyagewouldhaveneverknownabouttheStateofRakhineconflictinMyanmarifthey
werenotheadedthere,travellingontheMVExplorer.Currenteventsinthesecountries
alsobecomemoreinterestingastheybecomepersonallyrelevant.Aftervisiting
Myanmar,IwantedtolearnmoreabouttheRakhineconflict;wetalkedfurtheraboutthe
conflictinclass,andIalsoresearcheditonline.FromwhatProfessorWiegandstatedin
class,theconflicthasbeenoccurringforaroundthirtyyears,butthisisthefirstIhave
heardofit.
Wedonotonlyfailtodiscusscurrenteventsinothercountries,butwealsodont
learnaboutpastinjusticesthathaveoccurredinternationally.Ibelievetherearetwomain
reasonsforthis.Firstofall,wedontliketotalkaboutpastinjusticeswhenwedid
nothingtostopthemfromhappening.Wefeelguiltyaswelearnabouttheseinjustices
andseethatwecouldhavemadeadifference,butdidnt.Forexample,intheRwandan
Genocide,20%ofthepopulationwaskilledintheviolencethateruptedbetweenthe
HutusandTutsis("GenocideAgainsttheTutsi").Fornumerousreasons,theUSandthe
UNrespondedveryslowly,andaccordingtoWikipedia,PresidentClintonhasreferred
tothefailureoftheU.S.governmenttointerveneinthegenocideasoneofhismain
foreignpolicyfailures,sayingIdon'tthinkwecouldhaveendedtheviolence,butIthink
wecouldhavecutitdown.AndIregretit("GenocideAgainsttheTutsi").Thesecond

reasonwedontdiscusspastinternationalhumanrightsviolationsisbecausefrankly,we
justdontcare.WearelessinterestedinwhathashappenedoutsideoftheUnitedStates
thanwithintheUnitedStates.Asdiscussedinthefirstparagraph,Ihavelearnedalot
aboutsegregationintheUnitedStates,butlittleaboutApartheidinSouthAfrica.Iknow
alotabouttheHolocaust,butbeforeSemesteratSea,nothingabouttheHereroNama
GenocideinNamibia.
Althoughitisimpossibletolearnabouteverythingandtoconstantlybeupdated
onallthatishappeningintheworldduetotimeconstraints,Ibelieveitisimportantthat
oureducationsystemandmediabeimprovedtowherewegetabettertasteofevents
outsidetheUnitedStates.Therefore,ifwearemoreeducatedonsuchhumanrights
violations,morecouldbedonetoreducetheseinjustices.Notonlywouldthismakeus
moreawareandwillingtomakeadifference,itwouldmakeusmoreofaglobalcitizen.
WeareresponsibleforknowingwhatgoesonoutsidetheUnitedStates,andeducationis
vitaltomakingthathappen.

WorksCited
Wikipediacontributors."GenocideAgainsttheTutsi."Wikipedia,TheFree
Encyclopedia.Wikipedia,TheFreeEncyclopedia,11Apr.2015.Web.
12Apr.2015.
(Weonlyhadaccesstoafewwebsiteswhilelivingontheship,sowewereallowedto
useWikipedia)