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Democracy dies when dissent is silenced.

Many people come from places where voices were silenced. Civil liberties and human rights were ignored. Everyone deserves a platform to tell their own story, connect with others, and be heard.

Our Purpose

Below is a copy of the pitch written by the founder of United in Mind prior to creating this website:

Our history is tainted with a past that reflects the dire consequences of some of the profit-seeking power-grabbing agendas of mankind. Many times we speak of the horrors of colonialism, institutionalized discrimination, oppression, and mass genocide as though they were things of the past. It’s easy to do so when we aren’t directly and immediately affected by these elements on a day-to-day basis. Unfortunately, this isn’t the reality for many around the world, as evidenced by the number of displaced citizens reported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on an annual basis - many of whom risk their lives to escape their countries and seek refuge wherever opportunity lies. When the amount of currently displaced people in the world, including those who are stateless, amount to approximately the combined populations of California, New York, and Texas, it is absolutely a social problem that we should all care about. Around 42% of these displaced people are children. (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, n.d.) Many of these people have endured trauma, heartache, loss, and, in some cases, rape or torture. (Hayden, 2021)

If you take a look at UNHCR’s list of top international displacement situations by country of origin, the top 10 countries listed are Syria, Afghanistan, Venezuela, South Sudan, Myanmar, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan, Iraq, and Eritrea, all of which were previously colonized. The section addressing Global Poverty in a Social Problems textbook sums up the reason for many of these countries’ ongoing issues quite eloquently:

According to the Dependency Theory, the poverty of poor nations stems from their colonization by European nations, which exploited the poor nations’ resources and either enslaved their populations or used them as cheap labor. The colonized nations were thus unable to develop a professional and business class that would have enabled them to enter the Industrial age and to otherwise develop their economies. Along the way, wealthy nations sold their own goods to colonized nations and forced them to run up enormous debt that continues to amount today. Huge multinational corporations continue to exploit the labor and resources of the poorest nations. (University of Minnesota, 2015, p. 69)

The colonization of nearly all these countries did not begin with imperialists just invading parts of Asia at whim, or arbitrarily drawing borders throughout Africa, but with the socialization of entire communities of people to reinforce the ethnocentric views of those in power.

Much of these actions were conducted en masse through the collaborative efforts of multiple agents of socialization across European societies to paint Africans and Asians as savage or inferior through the use of racist pseudoscience. It was also justified by artists, the media, and other members of society to collectively define and establish social norms - socially acceptable attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Influential individuals and others in their network assigned meaning to the social construction of race. Scientists like Carolus Linnaeus and Samuel Morton propagated these race-defining ideas through their published works that were then accepted by much of western society. We now know that all humans, regardless of skin color and ethnicity, are 99.9% genetically identical. (National Human Genome Research Institute, 2019) Authors like Rudyard Kipling published works such as “The White Man’s Burden,” which justified imperialism as the moral duty of "the white man" to assist primitive or "savage" non-white people with civilization, by “seek[ing] another’s profit, and work[ing] another’s gain.” (Kipling, 1899) Presumptuous notions of "white savior"-hood continues today.

The media continues to paint a picture of Africa as a continent that is in need of constant aid, as "passive recipients of white benevolence." The politics of representation continues to paint many peripheral nations around the world as incapable of fixing their own problems, which can have a damaging and demoralizing effect. It ignores much of the continued progress throughout many African nations, such as the advances in technology throughout countries such as Ghana, Rwanda, or Kenya, which pioneered mobile banking through a company called M-Pesa and started a community-based social activism app called Ushahidi, which helped collect info on the 2008 post-election violence that occured in Kenya and helped locate Haitian earthquake survivors in 2010. (Sasse & Haasen, 2018) In the past, the efforts of some NGOs to provide aid involved dumping a surplus of food or supplies sourced from core nations in short bursts, putting local farmers/suppliers out of work, fostering dependency, disrupting economies, and empowering dictators. (Mauren, K. et al., 2015) What many of these countries need is a chance to build a solid infrastructure, compete fairly in the global market, and more support for local businesses and entrepreneurs. Many of these regions contain brilliant intellectuals who will only be able to succeed in fixing their nation’s problems if they stop being oppressed or forced to watch their homeland continue to be exploited by those who stand to gain something.

Congo (now DRC), number seven on UNHCR’s list of countries with the most displaced people, was previously colonized by Belgium. During their rule, they filled a zoo filled with African people and young children were regularly amputated or castrated if their parents were unable to meet their daily rubber quota. (Rannard & Webster, 2020) As many as 10,000,000 Congolese died while under colonial rule. (Recently, horrified Belgians insisted on the removal of King Leopold's statues.) While psychologist Stanley Milgram’s experiment on obedience to authority figures might explain how some individuals may have just been following orders, the fact is, deeply rooted ethnocentric views encouraged by the media and society allowed them to rationalize their atrocities. At present, the humanitarian crisis in Congo is awful. A study conducted in 2007 concluded that around 1.7 million women in Congo may have been victims of sexual violence. (Peterman et al., 2011) Congo is considered the richest nation in the world in terms of resources, and over 120 armed rebel groups continue to contribute to conflicts exacerbated by the struggle for control of its minerals. (Reuters, 2021) It’s hard to say for sure if this wouldn’t have been the outcome for Congo had they not been colonized, subjected to such cruel treatment that likely resulted in multigenerational trauma, and had their first prime minister assassinated due to the collaborative efforts of Belgium and the C.I.A. in 1961 as part of a larger Cold War strategy, during a crucial time for a young nation transitioning to an independent democracy after years of imperial rule. (Nzongola-Ntalaja, 2020) According to an article on Reuters, “Congo mines around two-thirds of the world's cobalt, an ingredient in lithium-ion batteries, and is Africa's leading producer of copper.” (Reuters, 2021b) Congo is caught in a "resource trap." It stands to reason that a large part of their problems are tied to the continued exploitation of their resources by internal and external powers.

The end of colonialism that introduced independence for many nations throughout the 20th century did not lead to an easy transition for nations who had never had the opportunity to establish a political system, had any experience running a government and, for the longest time, were victims of their colonizers’ “divide and conquer” tactics, which created tensions between people based on religious, regional, and ethnic differences within nation-states. (Nanda & Warms, 2019) Thus, many of these countries are now struggling with political and economic instability in addition to human rights violations by some governments due to a lack of true democracy, such as the case in Eritrea, often referred to as the North Korea of Africa, where the party currently running the totalitarian regime has been in power since its independence in 1993 and citizens are forced into national service without a living wage. More than half of Syria’s population is displaced, and while the number of Afghan refugees leaving per month has grown significantly larger since the Taliban takeover in August, the people of Afghanistan have dealt with 40 years of conflict that has kept them in the top 3 list of international displacement situations by country of origin for much longer than the past few months.

Ultimately, neocolonialism is still affecting and suppressing progress in many developing nations through capitalism. One of the biggest contributors to instability in a nation is a lack of economic growth and opportunity. The generations of wealth obtained as colonized nations were stripped of their resources or, as in the case of slavery, a country’s greatest asset - its people - have allowed many western nations to wield power in different ways as our world has become increasingly divided into the wealthy and the poor rather than the independent and the colonized. (Nanda & Warms, 2019) The GDP per capita of each of the countries previously mentioned is amongst the lowest in the world relative to other nations. For comparison, the GDP of the DRC, South Sudan, Eritrea, and Afghanistan is between $1,100 and $2,200, whereas the GDP per capita of the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and the United States is between $48,000 and $65,000. (World Bank Group, n.d.)

It would make sense that many individuals from countries experiencing armed conflict, human rights violations, or political and economic instability, would, as hominins have for as long as 1.8 million years starting with Homo erectus, seek opportunity for a better future for various reasons in other places through migration. (D’Costa, 2018) In our textbook, it was mentioned that the rate of population growth in many western nations has been increasing at approximately 1% or less per annum in recent years. In Africa, on the other hand, the rate of population growth has been increasing at approximately 3% per annum. (Alas, 2020) However, since many of these peripheral nations are still relatively young and catching up to the modernization achieved by core nations, they are still struggling to support such population growth. The majority of people in countries with rapid population growth are not even interested in leaving their homes. However, for the few that are, it may benefit western nations to allow immigration and make up for the increasing gap between the working-age population and those who rely on programs such as social security.

Unfortunately, nativist sentiment throughout various regions have continued to promote propaganda that blames immigrants for their problems - scapegoating, despite evidence to the contrary. It may be due to the rapid cultural diffusion as a result of globalization, disconcerting those who stand to lose their position of privilege, similar to what was seen during the Industrial Revolution. While society as a whole has become more conscious, it isn’t too hard to imagine that as a society, prejudice can still affect law. Not too long ago, a president who was overtly prejudiced was voted into office, suddenly encouraging white supremacist groups such as the KKK and Proud Boys to openly congregate like they did decades ago. (Haltiwanger, 2020) Many states have since banned certain concepts of race and gender from school curriculums. (Ray & Gibbons, 2021) As we’ve learned, the best way to battle racism or prejudice in general is to encourage collaboration and cooperation between people so they have a chance to see each other as members of the same in-group, instead of adopting the mindset of “us vs the Other.” The ideal has always been a pluralistic society, where diversity is embraced and people can coexist with others who don’t necessarily share the same culture, ethnicity, or religious beliefs.

When people think of problems like prejudice or see statistics like those previously mentioned, it can often seem so magnanimous and unreachable of a problem that all many can do is express their empathy. However, there is more that can be done. After speaking with representatives from a few non-profit organizations as well as through personal conversations with a few asylees, it seems that a website with a forum would be one small way to contribute. Information on this website would be consolidated from data collected through the UNHCR, WHO, the World Bank, various news sources, published academic research papers, and interviews with individuals currently working in non-profit organizations that offer refugee relocation services.

If there were a website that both offered information about the refugee crisis and the benefits of immigration, ways to volunteer, and, most importantly, provide an open forum for people to anonymously post their stories, it may give more affected people a voice and a platform to connect with others without endangering themselves or their loved ones back home while those who are eager to help or simply learn may gain a bit more clarity about the actual scope of the problem through the eyes of individuals in the process. The information on such a website could give people access in a simple and clear format listing the primary reasons why so many people have become displaced. It could also provide the general public with clear examples of ways to help either by donating their time or money to the various organizations that offer services to displaced people. Those who have already been displaced and are dealing with culture shock may also benefit from a forum in which they can share their story, connect with people who’ve been through similar situations, find loved ones who they’ve had to separate from on their journey that can sometimes take years between leaving their home country and their final host country, and, most importantly, take advantage of their newfound freedom to speak openly about the atrocities in their home countries, where many were afraid to express their political views due to totalitarian or military regimes that restricted open communication, internet access, and/or controlled the media.

Oftentimes when we read and see signs of the remnants of old racist or prejudice-driven policies and initiatives still playing out, it can feel demoralizing. It can be helpful to focus on the solutions so we can channel our energy into making a positive change instead of dwelling on the horrors. Awareness is always the first step and how our past choices as a society continue to affect people today, however uncomfortable the truth may be, needs to be discussed and addressed. But so do the plans towards progress. After all, empathy rarely occurs in the absence of awareness.

REFERENCES

Alas, H. (2020, December 24). The Rise of African Nations’ Populations. U.S. News. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-12-24/us-population-growth-projected-to-stall-african-countries-surge-by-2100

D’Costa, K. (2018, July 12). Hominins Likely Left Africa Earlier Than Believed. Scientific American Blog Network. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/hominins-likely-left-africa-earlier-than-believed/

Haltiwanger, J. (2020, September 30). Trump has repeatedly been endorsed by white supremacist groups and other far-right extremists, and they’ve looked to him as a source of encouragement. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-history-of-support-from-white-supremacist-far-right-groups-2020-9?international=true&r=US&IR=T

Hayden, S. (2021, October 8). Reports of physical and sexual violence as Libya arrests 5,000 migrants in a week. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/oct/08/reports-of-violence-libya-arrests-5000-migrants

Kipling, R. (1899). “The White Man’s Burden: A Poem.” Doubleday and McClure Co.

Mauren, K., Fitzgerald, J. F., Miller, M. M., Witt, J., Scionka, S., Small, T., Wade, M., ... ColdWater Media,. (2015). Poverty, Inc.

Nanda, S., & Warms, A. (2019). “Power, Conquest, and a World System.” In Cultural Anthropology (12th ed., pp. 343–346). SAGE Publications, Inc.

National Human Genome Research Institute. (2019, March 9). Genetics vs. Genomics Fact Sheet. Genome.Gov. https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Genetics-vs-Genomics

Nzongola-Ntalaja, G. (2020, October 15). Patrice Lumumba: the most important assassination of the 20th century. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary-assassination

Peterman, A., Palermo, T., & Bredenkamp, C. (2011). Estimates and Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. American Journal of Public Health, 101(6), 1060–1067. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2010.300070

Rannard, G., & Webster, E. (2020, June 13). Leopold II: Belgium “wakes up” to its bloody colonial past. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53017188

Ray, R., & Gibbons, A. (2021, November 22). Why are states banning critical race theory? Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/

Reuters. (2021, November 18). Eastern Congo lawmakers sound alarm over 144 violent civilian deaths this month. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/eastern-congo-lawmakers-sound-alarm-over-144-violent-civilian-deaths-this-month-2021-11-17/

Reuters. (2021b, November 25). Cobalt-rich Congo tries to push into battery manufacturing. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/cobalt-rich-congo-tries-push-into-battery-manufacturing-2021-11-24/

Sasse, E., & Haasen, B. (2018) Digital Africa [Film]. Albatross World Sales.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). Figures at a Glance. UNHCR. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html

University of Minnesota. (2015). Social Problems: Continuity and Change (Vol. 1). University of Minnesota Libraries.

World Bank Group. (n.d.). GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) | Data. WorldBank. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD