Political accessories gimmicky, but valuable

TUCSON, Ariz. “”mdash; The consumerization of social
responsibility made Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong bracelets a
nationwide trend, followed by a craze of bracelets in every color
for every cause. The whole concept of the bracelets was quickly
cheapened ““ you bought one as an accessory, not as a
commitment to a cure or solution. That’s why I was shocked
when I first came across similar bracelets and, even worse,
T-shirts that looked like they could be purchased at Urban
Outfitters made in the name of raising awareness and money for
Darfur.

How could trendy bracelets and gimmicky T-shirts capture the
severity of what is going on in Darfur? How could people use such
nominal material items to represent the 400,000 people who have
been killed; the 2 million innocent civilians who have been forced
to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in
Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and the more than
3.5 million men, women and children who are completely reliant on
international aid for survival?

Maybe rampant ignorance calls for desperate measures.

I asked 20 students two things: Do you know where Darfur is? Do
you know anything about what is happening there? Sixteen of these
students didn’t have to answer the second question because
they couldn’t even tell me where Darfur is ““ a western
region in the country of Sudan in East Africa ““ let alone
what’s going on there.

After each “no” or “I don’t know, the
Middle East?” I realized that the bracelets and T-shirts
exist because these “gimmicky” things are simply what
works in a society filled with people who do not work to keep
themselves informed.

Wendy Theodore, an assistant professor of Africana studies who
helped bring the bracelets to the University of Arizona campus when
she was an advisor for the Students for Darfur group, said she
believes that the green “Save Darfur” bracelets are
valuable.

“The bracelets serve three purposes,” she said.
“To keep the person wearing it conscious of their
responsibility to spread the word; they are an effective walking
advertisement and elicit inquiries from others; and they helped to
raise money that was then sent to a group on the ground in
Darfur.”

This is key: Bracelets and T-shirts, regardless of how trendy
they may become, are worth it if they help to inform even one more
person.

However, material items are just the first step. We can’t
do anything to help people in our own communities or across the
world in Darfur before we actually learn about the issue.

I left a more detailed explanation of what is happening in
Darfur out for a reason: to leave you the responsibility of going
to Google, turning on the news or opening a newspaper and finding
out for yourself. Don’t let bracelets do all the talking.
Lives are depending on it.

Valenzuela is a columnist for the Arizona Daily Wildcat at
the University of Arizona.