Journal of Human Rights Fall 2016

The Journal of Human Rights Volume XXI Fall 2016

EXECUTIVE BOARD President and Designer: Maxwell Smith Vice-President: Lavanya Hinduja Secretary and Treasurer: Rebecca Oh WRITERS Akshara Anirjita Sophie Barker Emily Bellor Karim Dewidar Grace Easterly David Flatscher Ali Hassan Lavanya Hinduja Emily Hockett Kanyon Iwami Sophie Jeon Natalia Maverakis Tia Ramos Richard Semus COVER PHOTO Natalia Maverakis

THE JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS

FALL 2016 Volume XXI

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

The Logic of the Wound: On (De)Constructing Chinese Identity Richard Semus

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Religious Rationalization and Sex Slavery in Thailand David Flatscher

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Blasphemy: Pakistan’s Unforgivable Crime Ali Hassan

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The Inevitable Stare Sophie Jeon

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Human Rights in Yemen: Where is the Accountability?

Grace Easterly

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Human Rights and Fair Trade in the Coffee Industry Kanyon Iwami

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Citizen Journalism: Policing Human Rights in the Age of Social Media Lavanya Hinduja

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Yellow Child Tia Ramos

The Lobbying of the Catholic Church Against Reproductive Rights Emily Hockett A Brutal Backlash: The State of Feminism on the Web Emily Bellor

I was not born a revolutionary...

Akshara Anirjita Photos of Black Lives Matter Protests in New York City Natalia Maverakis

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Poor Water Quality as a Human Rights Violation Sophie Barker

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How to Stop Radicalization: Islamic Literacy Through Liberal Arts Karim Dewidar

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Human Rights Violations of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong Rachel Law

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The Logic of the Wound: On (De)Constructing Chinese Identity Richard Semus

If, as the theorist Rey Chow speculates, Chineseness is largely a kind of “ethnic supplement” conceived in opposition to a hegemonic Western discourse, then we might begin to investigate the role it has played in relation to the overseas Chinese—and in particular to the formation of an overseas Chinese diasporic identity (Chow 4). After all, Chineseness in itself has historically been mobilized against the Chinese, used to establish a cultural binary that ultimately displaces the Chinese subject into the realm of the other. Nowhere has this effect been more pronounced than in North America, the proving ground for the newest wave of Chinese mass migration.

New Roots in Foreign Soil The first influx of Chinese migration to the U.S. began around 1848, the first year of the California Gold Rush, and by 1854 official discriminatory laws had already been passed barring the Chinese from testifying in court. Racism and physical violence against the Chinese had, of course, existed since the outset of immigration, and movements among the white workforce to further disenfranchise Chinese laborers were incited in tandem with the growing immigrant population; but it was here where anti-Chinese sentiment first crystallized into legislation, the legacy of which would remain until as late as 1965 (Kuhn 205-6). Thus exclusion came to define the Chinese-American experience for a stretch of over one hundred years (continuing, in varying forms and degrees, to this day).

At the time of such outright discrimination—eventually culminating in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882—the Chinese were generally perceived as occupying the opposite end of the Western/ non-Western cultural binary, antithetical to Ameri-

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can (white) virtuousness and worldviews, unassimilable, even ‘heathen’. Add to this the fact that Chinese were banned from interracially marrying due to anti-miscegenation laws, and it should come as no surprise that the local population came together in solidarity, creating Chinatowns as insulated communities where they could live, work, and freely converse without subjection to racialized hatred (Takaki 240). The overarching majority still either returned or planned to return to China, rendering them (whether by force or volition) model sojourners who were, in effect, temporarily rootless.

How exactly the concept of roots, or ‘gen’, as L. Ling-chi Wang puts it, factors into a notional diasporic Chinese identity has always been a point of contention (Wang). But at least in regards to the earliest forms of U.S. migration, the manifestation of one’s roots was a result of a climate that “subjugated the Chinese economically, segregated them socially, and disenfranchised them politically” (Wang 192). The local population of the late 19th century inevitably remained tethered to, if not their ancestral homeland, then their ancestral homes, families and/or villages. Problems of assimilation never went beyond a reductionist form of othering.

Yet inevitably some exceptions appear.

Crossing

The few exemptions to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 included: “[e]lite Chinese diplomats and merchants, students and travelers, native-born U.S. citizens, some laborers, and some wives” (Marcus 369). Those who were not native-born citizens were still aliens, however, and could not legally obtain U.S. citizenship. Most of them were members of a privileged upper class.

While we often talk about class as affording

one the ability to move comfortably through the world (and in turn ignore the plight of those who cannot), in the case of the U.S. overseas Chinese, class also came with the benefit of ‘cultural transgression’—the feat of crossing the boundaries between West and non-West, ‘occident’ and ‘orient’.

Herbal doctors, for example, represent an elite class whose businesses not only flourished in the local Chinatowns, but even managed to appeal to a nonwhite demographic. What may strike us as ironic today is the fact that this appeal stemmed from an explicitly ‘American-style’ marketing campaign in which, rather than attempt any sort of bald acculturation, herbal practices actually emphasized the ‘Chineseness’ of the trade, touting over 2,000 years of Chinese tradition as well as doctors’ credentials from China proper. Their form of crossing therefore sat squarely within the pre-existing paradigm, approaching white America from a safe distance as other.

Missionaries—another prominent upper class—followed a more typical acculturation, though the extent of their crossing perhaps exceeded that of the herbal doctors. Whereas herbal doctors rooted themselves firmly in the mythology of China, missionaries arose from a tradition dating back to around the 1830’s, when the first American missionaries traveled to Guangdong province.

Many of the local Chinese, both in the U.S. and elsewhere, consequently came to view missionaries as arms of cross-cultural assimilation, with Christianity itself becoming conflated with Americanization and a sacrifice of one’s Chinese identity. (The few Chinese in the U.S. who initially converted to Christianity practiced a sort of syncretism, incorporating elements of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism into their practice.) In spite of this stigmatization, leading Chinese missionaries such as Ng Poon Chew looked towards assuaging “anti-Asian agitation”, with a stated mission to “halt prostitution, to close opium dens, and to resolve the enduring conflicts between rival tongs that had long plagued Chinese communities in the West”— thereby directly implicating themselves in the socalled “Chinese Question” raging across the country (Marcus 386).

One particular case succinctly illustrates the capabilities of Chinese missionaries (and, by extension, those of privileged classes in general) for interethnic and intercultural crossing: Huie Kin Hwong. Born in Guangdong in 1854, Hwong immigrated to California in 1868, where he was educated in English and promptly baptized by a Presbyterian minister. While spending time as a leader of the San Francisco Chinese Sunday School, he along with two other missionary workers attempted to confront the gambling problems plaguing Chinatown, achieving—chiefly, it seems, as a result of police indifference—limited success. Hwong then moved to Ohio and later New York, where he became a minister, founded the First Chinese Presbyterian Church, and, perhaps most surprisingly, fell in love with and later married a white American woman, Louise Van Arnam. The couple went on to have nine children (during a period when anti-miscegenation laws were still in effect, no less).

Yet even when such a seemingly perfect assimilation was achieved by a Chinese, there were limits to how seamless it could be. Take this excerpt from the June 1907 issue of The Literary Digest, a profile of Hwong’s wife and the family home. Even as the pair are praised for blending their respective cultures into a “harmonious whole,” the writer has to preface or qualify this with the familiar binary sentiments: “The atmosphere of the Huie Kin house, as one would naturally expect in a Chinese home set down in the midst of an American neighborhood, and in the union of a Chinese with an American, is a blending of the occidental and oriental. Oriental hangings vie with occidental inventions… Things western and things oriental do not mix well as a rule. They are essentially different ideas…” (Reminiscences of Huie Kin) The use of “essentially” here is poignant: no matter what the degree of privilege and/or assimilation, no matter how emphatically one denies the call (or demand) to return to China, certain cultural paradigms cannot be breached. To paraphrase Ien Ang, the ‘mythic homeland’ at once constitutes and

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binds diasporic consciousness, fixing the prospect of transgressing one’s roots (Ang). This is as true now as it was then.

The Logic of the Wound In her discussion of Chineseness as a theoretical problem, Rey Chow quotes philosopher Étienne Balibar’s observation that “culture can also function like a nature, and it can in particular function as a way of locking individuals and groups a priori into a genealogy, into a determination that is immutable and intangible in origin” (Chow 7). Indeed, it is precisely this notion of ‘culture-as-nature’ that finds its origins in the beginnings of Chinese exclusion, assuming the role of a cheap and easy signifier in U.S. political and social discourse and almost invariably discussed in opposition to the West. The ramifications of this discourse can be felt today, reverberating from first-generation immigrant parents down to their children, speaking, always, to an irreconcilable schism between that which is Chinese and that which is American.

Returning to the concept of gen: at the end of his essay, L. Ling-chi Wang clarifies the role of roots as that which “gives rise to the varied, often conflicting understandings of Chinese identities” (Wang 212); therefore a historical understanding of Chinese discourse is necessary in supplying the logic of the wound (a re-appropriation of Chow’s own phrase) and illuminating, at least in the U.S. context, how certain paradigms are brought to bear on the negotiation of an overseas Chinese diasporic identity. The question of whether one can escape from under the shadow of that history—and, by extension, reclaim the mantle of Chineseness for deconstruction and re-contextualization—will be left up to the generations now and yet to come.

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WORKS CITED Ang, Ien. “On Not Speaking Chinese.” On Not Speaking Chinese: Living between Asia and the West. London: Routledge, 2001. Print.

Chow, Rey. “Introduction: On Chineseness as a Theoretical Problem.”Boundary 2 25.3, Modern Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies in the Age of Theory: Reimagining a Field (1998): 1-24. Web. Kuhn, Philip A. “Communities in the Age of Mass Migration: II.” Chinese among Others: Emigration in Modern times. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Print.

Marcus, Kenneth H. “Inside and Outside Chinatown: Chinese Elites in Exclusion Era California.” Pacific Historical Review 80.3 (2011): 369-400. Web. Takaki, Ronald T. “Gilded Ghettos.” Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. Boston: Little, Brown, 1989. Print.

Ulaby, Neda. “The Huie Kin Family’s Dynasty of Diversity.” NPR. NPR, 29 Aug. 2006. Web. Wang, L. Ling-chi. “Roots and the Changing Identity of the Chinese in the United States.” The Living Tree: The Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today. By Weiming Tu. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1994. N. pag.

Print.

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Religious Rationalization and Sex Slavery in Thailand David Flatscher

The nineteenth-century abolitionist leader and former slave, Frederick Douglass, spoke of a connection between religion and slavery. In his 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass A Slave, he states that “Were I to be again reduced to the chains of slavery, next to that enslavement, I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me. For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst” (Gates 369). According to Douglass, the religious slaveholder was especially cruel in his abuse because he somehow felt that his actions were justified. This slave-owner could fall asleep at night believing that those he brutalized were sinners, that they were marked as such by the color of their skin, that they deserved his abuse, and that he was, in fact, acting in accordance with God’s will. This religious dogma both rationalized and perpetuated slavery, and it was not limited to nineteenth-century America. In modern-day Thailand, slavery in all its various forms still exists. The misuse of Buddhism in Thailand, for example, allows for the rationalization of oppression.

While slavery is a violation of human rights according to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there are still millions of people who are kept in involuntary servitude. This modern day slavery is vastly different from the kind Douglass experienced. Nobody can legally claim to own slaves anymore. As a result, slavery lurks in the shadows and is therefore more difficult to combat.

It also comes in many different forms (Apsel). The form most prevalent in Thailand today is sex slavery, which involves kidnapping young girls, selling them to brothels, and coercing them into prostitution. Even girls who “voluntarily” prostitute themselves face enormous societal and economic pressure to do so. While these influences are very

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powerful in themselves, their foundation may rest on Theravada Buddhism, the main form of Buddhism practiced in Thailand.

The fundamental concepts of Theravada Buddhism are karma (kam) and merit making (kaan tham bun). These beliefs express that good action will earn positive merit (bun), while bad action will earn demerit (baap), which all in turn affect a person’s overall karma (Muecke 893). Past deeds are believed to directly influence a person’s well-being in this life. For example, wealth is seen as a sign of good karma, while poverty is a demerit for bad deeds carried over from the past. Moreover, in this belief system there is a fixed spiritual hierarchy, which places men above women. Enlightenment is a privilege reserved for men, while a woman’s highest spiritual aspiration is to be reborn as a man (Proskow 21). This idea has legitimized the oppression of women by painting them as ‘lower beings’. But despite such a demeaning portrayal, these women, particularly the poor ones, are still pushed to improve their low karmic status.

The most common way these women improve their karma, or ‘make merit’, is by giving money to monks (Proskow 26). Prostitutes have a reputation for making such offerings. In this way, young and uneducated women come to think prostitution benefits them because it enables them to earn money and improve their karma. The monks normalize exploitation by implicitly sanctioning it.

According to this logic, a pimp is no longer someone who exploits women, but a benefactor who gives them the opportunity to reach a better life in their next incarnation.

The idea of karma as it is understood in Theravada Buddhism also reinforces the notion that one’s lot in life is predetermined, and thus unchangeable. Bua Boonmee, a young Thai pros-

titute, articulates this idea in her memoir “Miss Bangkok: Memoirs of a Thai Prostitute.” Bua was born in the poor, rural area north of Thailand.

She describes how economic hardship and lack of familial support forced her to move to Bangkok, where she eventually started working as a prostitute. Throughout her memoir, she describes the degrading and dehumanizing effects of her work, yet precisely for the aforementioned reason she blames herself for her situation: “Throughout my life, I had always believed that unforeseen powers shaped my fate and that I must have committed some terrible deed in my previous life, for which I was now paying the price” (Boonmee, 55). The prostitute or the girl that is trafficked is encouraged to willingly accept her place in this world. She is made to believe that her only hope lies in the next life, and all she can do is try to improve upon her karma in her current one.

It is not only karmic debt, however, that encourages prostitution. The belief that children are indebted to their parents is very powerful as well.

This is where religious and cultural norms intertwine. Historically, especially in the poor, rural villages of northern Thailand, it was commonplace for daughters to be sold off into sexual bondage. Sons on the other hand, earned merit for their families by becoming monks (Proskow, 18). Not much has changed since then; the rapid industrialization of the country over the last fifty years has only intensified social inequality. While southern regions and areas in and around Bangkok have enjoyed massive economic growth, “the north was left behind” (Bales 40). Many families in the north still choose to sell their daughters into prostitution in order to support themselves financially. In fact, a much larger percentage of women become prostitutes than men become monks (Muecke, 892).

Undeniably, there is a link connecting religion to economic hardship and prostitution. Buddhism in Thailand stresses the importance of material wealth as an indicator of a person’s attained karma from previous lives. Even at a great cost, subservience to the accumulation of wealth, when seen as a meritorious activity, is to be expected of those who follow this belief system. Nevertheless,

hope for improvement can also be found within the religion of Theravada Buddhism.

The traditional Buddhist texts establish a male religious order, the bhikkhu sangha, and a female order, the bhikkhuni sangha. Nuns can serve as living, tangible figures that contrast with the traditional patriarchal interpretation of Buddhism in Thailand. The movement to generate more bhikkhuni nuns has gained significant traction in various countries, most notably in Sri Lanka (Tomalin, 387). The fact that we see more female nuns in Sri Lanka is a promising sign since it is a majority Buddhist country like Thailand. Even though there are only five Theravada bhikkhunis in Thailand today, this trend could potentially be of great value for women’s empowerment within the country (Tomalin, 388). Education could also be the key to break down oppression; Frederick Douglass himself described it as “the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Gates, 338). Young impoverished boys always had the option to become monks (they could even become temporary monks) in order to escape poverty and receive a basic education; until very recently, this possibility was denied to women (Tomalin, 389). A young, uneducated girl from a poor family is more likely to end up working as a prostitute against her will than receive an education. An educated woman, on the other hand, is much more unlikely to end up being so exploited. As education and the practice of ordaining nuns becomes more and more accepted, the pathway to freedom may hopefully present far less obstacles for the women of Thailand.

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WORKS CITED Apsel, Joyce. “Slavery: Social and Historical Patterns and Slavery Today.” Ways to Conceptualize the Human Atrocity, Slavery… (n.d.): n. pag. Web. Bales, Kevin. “Chapter 2 Thailand.” Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy. Berkeley, CA: U of California, 2012. N. pag. Print.

Leidholdt, Dorchen. “Prostitution - A Modern Form of Slavery.” Ed. Donna M. Hughes and Claire M. Roche. (1999): n. pag. University of Rhode Island. The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women.

Muecke, Majorie A. “Mother Sold Food, Daughter Sells Her Body: The Cultural Continuity of Prostitution.”

Social Science & Medicine 35.7 (1992): 891-901. Science Direct. School of Nursing SM-24, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, U.S.A. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.

Tomalin, Emma. “The Thai Bhikkhuni Movement and Women’s Empowerment.” Gender and Development 14.3 (2006): 385-97. Web. Proskow, Amy, “Trading Sex for Karma in Thailand: An Analysis of the Reciprocal Relationship Between Buddhist Monastics and Thai Prostitutes” (2002). Honors Theses. Paper 1887 Boonmee, Bua, and Nicola Pierce. Miss Bangkok: Memoirs of a Thai Prostitute. Dunboyne: Maverick House, 2007. Print.

Gates, Henry Louis, and Frederick Douglass. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass A Slave.” The Classic Slave Narratives. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 301-403. Print.

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Blasphemy: Pakistan’s Unforgivable Crime Ali Hassan

On February 29, 2016, Mumtaz Qadri was hanged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail (AFP|DAWN. COM). This is a name that doubtless means a great deal to the people of Pakistan. In some, it triggers feelings of disgust and symbolizes a period of time when Pakistan had all but imploded thanks to religious extremism, but many others associate it with that of a hero who protected their religious sentiments from ungodly forces bent on maligning them.

Who is Mumtaz Qadri and why is he such a polarizing figure? In order to understand his importance to Pakistan today, it is necessary to be familiar with the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman from rural Pakistan who was given the death sentence by a local court. Her crime? Blasphemy – allegedly. A group of Muslim women accused her of insulting the Prophet after a verbal altercation (“Blasphemy: what you need...”, DAWN.COM). She had one powerful supporter – Salmaan Taseer, the liberal governor of Punjab at that time. Taseer publicly came to Aasia Bibi’s aid and even criticized Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Enter Mumtaz Qadri. He was assigned to serve Taseer as an escort and bodyguard when the governor was in public places. But his religious sentiments were offended when Taseer criticized the blasphemy laws, and on January 4, 2011, he gunned down his employer, riddling the governor’s body with 30 bullets (“Blasphemy law claims…”, DAWN.COM).

Qadri committed murder because he believed Taseer committed blasphemy. Ironically, Taseer was trying to help a woman whose life the state was going to take for the very same reason. But in this sea of blasphemy accusations, the question remains: what exactly are Pakistan’s laws regarding blasphemy?

Their existence dates back to colonial times.

In order to discourage communal disharmony, the British Government introduced a law called Section 295 to protect all Indian religious places of worship from harm in 1860. In 1927, when communal tensions were high, Section 295-A was introduced. It criminalized acts designed to deliberately stoke religious anger. After Pakistan’s creation in 1947, it stayed in place as part of Pakistan’s Penal Code but was never enforced; between 1927 and 1986, only seven people were accused of blasphemy.

In 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq seized power through a military coup and Islamicized the legal system in order to consolidate power. Among his many strict religious laws was Section 295-B, a 1982 amendment to Section 295-A that made the defilement of the Quran a crime punishable with a life sentence. Zia’s reforms gave space to the religious right, creating an atmosphere in which they could consolidate power within their local communities through fear of both Allah and the state. Having strengthened their ability to mobilize people in the name of religion, they accrued a great deal of political power. In 1986, they used their influence to pressurize Zia into amending the blasphemy law again to make it even stricter. Section 295-C was added to the penal code, making blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad a crime, and in 1991, the Federal Shariat Court (a court established in 1980 by Zia that ensures Pakistan’s laws agree with Shariah) ruled that it could only be punishable by a mandatory death sentence (The Nation). Since then, the number of reported blasphemy cases has risen beyond 1,000.

Even though Zia is long gone, his legacy remains. The religious right wields blasphemy laws like a weapon in order to strike down anyone it doesn’t like. Of the many reported cases of blasphemy, some if not most were manufactured with

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the sole purpose of maligning, hurting or killing people on the basis of personal enmity regardless of whether or not they actually committed blasphemy. Worse still, religious minorities make up a significant proportion of the total number of accused people (“What are Pakistan’s…”, BBC). Consider the case of Sawan Masih, a young Christian man from Lahore who was falsely accused of blasphemy in early March 2013 by a Muslim with whom he had a dispute. Fearing a riot, the police registered a case of blasphemy against him. But the law and order apparatus has no power in such a situation; it cannot prevent Muslims from feeling incensed upon hearing blasphemy has been committed, and it certainly cannot prevent them from mobilizing.

On March 9, 2013, a 3,000-strong mob stormed Masih’s area of residence, the predominantly Christian Joseph Colony, and torched dozens of Christian homes (“Dozens of houses torched…”, DAWN.COM). Most of its residents fled the night before in anticipation of a riot and came back to destroyed houses and ransacked property. It is not known as to whether any rioter was arrested, but nobody cared. Sawan Masih, on the other hand, was sentenced to death in 2014 (“Blasphemy: Christian arrested…”, DAWN.COM).

This case highlights the most absurd aspect of the Blasphemy Laws. If you are accused, it does not matter whether you actually committed blasphemy; all that matters is that you were accused.

An accusation of blasphemy sticks, and you can do nothing to clear your name. Everyone turns against you and you will ultimately become cornered. The state will go after you because it is left paralyzed by the thought of a religious riot breaking out. And if the state doesn’t get you, the religious rioters it fears so much certainly will. But if you are like 15-yearold Qaiser (an alias to protect his identity), you might hurt yourself before others do so instead. In what is possibly the most bizarre blasphemy case, Qaiser chopped off his hand and presented it to his local mosque’s imam after the latter accused him of blasphemy. The imam accused Qaiser after the young boy accidentally raised his hand when he asked, “Who among you doesn’t believe in the teachings of the Holy Prophet? Raise your hands!”

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during a sermon. Horrified at the thought of living with a blasphemy accusation, he returned home and chopped off his own hand in order to atone for his mistake. In an interview with the BBC, he said, “I didn’t feel any pain when I chopped it off so why would I feel any now? The hand that commits blasphemy should be chopped off.” (“The boy accused of…”, BBC) His village declared him a hero. Other nearby villages did so as well. No one cared whether he actually committed blasphemy. All that mattered was that he was accused of it and had to pay the price. The imam who accused him was arrested a few days after the incident, but Qaiser continues to live without one hand.

Getting accused of blasphemy is a death sentence in and of itself. Perhaps this is why nothing has been done to repeal or even amend the blasphemy laws to make them milder. At most, the legal system can show clemency by not carrying out death sentences given to alleged blasphemers.

Amazingly, nobody sentenced to death for blasphemy has ever been hanged (The Economist). The issue’s sensitive nature combined with the religious right’s desire to maintain its political influence makes changing them nearly impossible. Salmaan Taseer was gunned down by his own bodyguard for merely criticizing them. At the time, Qadri’s actions were met with praise; he was hailed a protector of the faith and, before his trial, was greeted by hundreds of grateful lawyers who fought each other for a chance at representing him in court. Understandably, Pakistan’s religious left – those that believe in the separation of religion and state – went silent.

They realized they had to be quiet unless they wanted to go the way of Taseer. One man, Christian activist and Minister of Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, chose to continue the battle Taseer started. Like his spiritual predecessor, he publicly defended Aasia Bibi and criticized the blasphemy laws. Unsurprisingly, he was shot dead. He was killed on March 2, 2011, merely two months after Taseer was murdered (“Minorities minister…”, DAWN.COM).

Qadri was found guilty of murder in October 2011, after which he fought a four year long legal battle against the verdict. It came to an end when the Supreme Court maintained the

sentence in October 2015. Four months later, he was hanged. Carrying out his sentence was quite a powerful move on the government’s part. It was one of the swifter sentences in a country where the legal system operates at a snail’s pace. It is possible that the government wanted to send the message that it was going to reclaim power from the religious right. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was known for his conservative politics in the 90s, seems to have realized the danger of trying to co-opt the religious right. But if the government chooses to take on the religious right, it is going to have to wage a long war. The religious right would rather take up arms than lose political influence.

Qadri’s death itself was met with immense backlash; thousands of mourners attended his funeral (“Thousands attend…”, DAWN.COM), and even more took to the streets to protest his hanging. On March 27, 2016, another riot, attended by around 25,000 baton-wielding protesters, broke out in the capital city of Islamabad. The military was called in to curb the violence, but the rioters did enough damage regardless. 2,000 of them continued to protest through to the next day. Sitting outside the parliament, they demanded that Qadri be made a martyr. The government refused, but also did not take decisive action against the protesters, signaling a lack of serious intent to curb religious violence.

The government’s inconsistency is problematic. It should develop a strategy that is effectively implemented and made known to the public. Until then, the blasphemy laws certainly will not go anywhere.

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WORKS CITED “Taseer’s killer Mumtaz Qadri hanged.” AFP|DAWN.COM, 1 March 2016. http://www.dawn.com/ news/1242637.

“The boy accused of blasphemy who cut off his own hand.” BBC, 19 January 2016. http://www.bbc.com/ news/world-asia-35341256.

“What are Pakistan’s blasphemy laws?” BBC, 6 November 2014. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-southasia-12621225.

“Blasphemy law claims another life.” DAWN.COM, 4 Jan. 2014. http://www.dawn.com/news/596195 “Blasphemy: Christian sentenced to death in Joseph Colony case.” DAWN.com, 28 March 2014. http:// www.dawn.com/news/1095974.

Yasin, Aamir. “Thousands attend Qadri’s funeral.” DAWN.com, 2 March 2016. http://www.dawn.com/ news/1243043.

“Blasphemy: What you need to know about Asia Bibi’s trial.” DAWN.com, 13 October 2016. http://www. dawn.com/news/1289700.

“Minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti assassinated in Islamabad.” DAWN.com, 2 March 2011. http://www. dawn.com/news/610105.

“Dozens of houses torched as mob attacks Lahore Christian locality.” DAWN.com, 9 March 2013. http:// www.dawn.com/news/791408.

“Flowers from the muck: A well-observed account of Pakistan’s death penalty and how it works.” The Economist, 16 July 2016. http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21702162-well-observed-account-pakistans-death-penalty-and-how-it-works-flowers-muck.

“10 Things You Need to know about Pakistan’s blasphemy law.” The Nation, 14 October 2016. http://nation. com.pk/featured/14-Oct-2016/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-pakistan-s-blasphemy-law.

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Yellow Child Tia Ramos In this poem, Tia Ramos explores several crucial, timely issues, focusing in particular on Asian-American identity, family and motherhood.

In Baudelaire’s “Beauty” her eyes are mirrors & I realize you must have been his muse As nothing you see reflects upon yourself.

When I was 10 I stopped hula dancing.

Now when I fuck a guy I think I learned to fuck when I was a kid B/c I spent every Monday in Boulder Rolling my hips like a whisk.

My Mom told me That Elvis’ nickname was Elvis Pelvis And he made girls faint with his gyrations And sometimes I like to imagine The kind of sex I’d be having If I stopped hula dancing when I was 14 B/c I was a horny 14 year-old Who’d watch sex scenes on Youtube But didn’t know how to masturbate yet And I wish I was as embarrassed at that As I was about being a hula dancer or As I am about being Asian.

My mom called me the other day. She said She’s writing a letter to our old house.

I said that was nice & that I’d like to read it & she said she would like that & now I feel like writing a letter to her That I will never let her read: To My Mama Who’s Leaving 21 Blue Heron Drive— I’m embarrassed when people bring you up b/c I don’t want them to think you’re uneducated Or too emotional or a pushover I thought of you lying

In your California King the morning of your flight Pushing aside the dog to pick up your phone b/c Alan knows that you got drunk last night & That you didn’t pack & That he’ll be there in half an hour To take you to the airport.

Did walking on our cold bamboo floors wake you up or Was it the Colorado sun that always beats Through our sliding doors?

Maybe that house was an extended metaphor For your love or You as a person or Our family, there’s something poetic About the fact that it was Yellow & that it let in a lot of light.

Did you know I slept w/ my head Under the covers for 2 years Because I was sure someone was going to come in & murder us all Amelia once asked me where I felt most comfortable & I said nowhere But especially not home.

I watched the debate tonight.

I was ashamed to think That you probably heard what Trump said b/c it makes me embarrassed b/c I don’t want you to think of all the men

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That have grabbed my pussy w/ or w/out my permission.

Motherhood is so bodily How could you have let my hairy lil’ noggin Destroy your yellow temple?

Did you know that you hurt me sometimes & I like to catalogue your hurt So I have a Word document that is called Shit My Mom Says / You always say That we can forgive cruel words But we’ll never forget them Like how Joe told me that The good relationships Are always transactional / I’ve been Carrying you around for the past couple weeks as in I think the timbre of your laugh That is so bright & projected which I hate Which I was always self-conscious that I had But when I sit down to write I don’t know What I want to say or whom I’m saying this to And I know if you were writing me a poem You would praise my beauty & say something You’d think was a compliment like An entry in Shit My Mom Says: “I know you’ll be a great poet Because the great ones are always troubled.”

I’m taking two poetry classes & I read Baudelaire’s “Beauty” in one of them & I realized that I make too many I statements Because every poem I write is just about How I feel & what I think & in my other poetry class I have to write a poem about you But how can I write a poem about a woman Who I love Who looks just like me Who makes decisions like I do Who tells me she gets lost in my eyelashes Who is ashamed of her own eyelashes Who had me even though she didn’t want to Because aren’t your eyes roadside reflectors?

For so long I blamed you for my troubles

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For Dad cheating & Alex’s anger For your stupid laugh For all the times you never went To Parent-Teacher conferences Or wear nice clothes so people At my rich white private school Would know that we were rich & forgive us for not being white.

You told me a story from high school.

You told me that someone approached you, Told you they had just visited Japan & that your eyes were so much bigger than theirs & you laughed & you were proud Instead of ashamed that someone Is comparing your body to someone else’s.

You are always comparing your body to mine As if you wish your body was a mirror I was using before leaving the house.

Why did you yell when I caught you Admiring yourself in the mirror?

Naked, your heavy tits Gazed upon your gaze b/c O Mama don’t you know That we are two Golden Goddesses With skin as yellow as a streetlamp.

Every morning I stand naked in my mirror & pinch my pierced nipples O Mama we are Asian Princesses Why are my words The only ones That paint us so?

The Inevitable Snare Sophia Jeon

While the luminescent lights of houses and city lamps were turning off one by one across the country of India, a small town of Rajasthan was turning theirs on. Without running water or electricity, most of its inhabitants stayed in the darkness, but one house in particular was illuminating the rooms for a very special occasion. Four slim candles with nubby fingers of wax dripping down the sides were stationed in different corners, illuminating a bride: one candle to make her red wedding dress glisten. Another to guide her aunts’ hands as they painted swaths of rouge across the girl’s cheeks. A third to ensure that no strand of hair was out of place on her perfectly oil-slicked head. And, the very last candle to help her mother wash her feet before they carried the girl’s body from her familiar old life into an unknown realm. Her female relatives squawked around her like a flock of excited chickens, hands fluttering around her face, hair, and body, wrapping her as they would a gift. “Veena, let’s see a smile on those lips!” One aunt reprimanded, stretching out the corners of her mouth with wrinkled fingers. “Veena you aren’t going to a funeral, it’s your wedding! Stop crying!” her grandmother snapped, after having to redo Veena’s eyes for the millionth time. “Veena...veena...veena!” The voices were swimming inside her head, all blending into an endless void that made her nauseous. She didn’t want to look beautiful for someone whom she had never even met. Another burst of tears spewed forth from her eyes, which elicited a slap from her grandmother and an exasperated chorus of “Veena...Veena...Veena!”

“Veena, think of your friend Seema. She’s happily married to a man who can provide her with everything she needs. She’s already given birth to two sons in the past year and she’s been blessed with another child. She’s always going about with

a smile on her lips. After this wedding, you will be as happy as she is. So hush! You are lucky that a man of his stature accepted you to be his wife.

You will be doing our family much good, Veena, and you know we need his help. You were always such a selfish girl, ayaya. I should have brought you up better!” Her mother scolded her in a harsh tone. Enduring the criticism, Veena thought back to the days when she and Seema always talked and played after school. The Seema she had known was kind, funny, smart, and loved life as it was, however flawed. Then one day, she got married. As the two girls clutched each other’s hands before the wedding ceremony, the last thing Seema had said to Veena was “I need to do this for my family.” Then, with a determined look in her eyes that Veena would never be able to forget, she walked down that aisle to where her future husband was waiting. The next time she saw Seema was equally unforgettable. Her belly was bulging from under her sari, she had one baby wrapped around her back, and she had multiple bruises on her arms and face. Veena swallowed hard, turned, and walked in the opposite direction.

She didn’t like the way her friend looked.

Veena snapped away from her reverie when her mother once again slapped and patted face powder onto her face. As Veena watched the powder dust dance and whirl so freely like tiny, colorful flower petals, she once again drifted deep into her memories.

One by one, her friends had all been married off over the past few years. She thought of all of them: Noopur, Tanvee, Amrita, Ambika, Shubra, Vamini...the list went on and on. Veena saw them change before her very eyes. They all, one by one, had changed to multiple Seemas. They lost their youth. It was as if their childhood was gone in an instant they stepped onto that aisle. The bruises,

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the bulging belly, the downcast eyes, the wrinkles, the children. The truth of it was, the happy and cheerful girls Veena once knew were gone forever.

But Veena couldn’t accept the truth; and now, she was closer to the truth than ever. Tonight was the night of her own wedding, and in a few minutes she would be walking down that aisle, too, following the footsteps of her friends who also, step by step, entered into their new life against their will.

Her father peeked into the room. “Veena, it’s time.” Veena sucked in a sharp breath. This was real. Her own wedding was happening in front of her very eyes. Her body moved against her own will as her aunts and mother pushed her through the doorframe. She closed her eyes as the veil was gently placed onto her head and when she slowly opened them, she saw her future husband sitting at the end of that aisle. The veil made everything as hazy as her future seemed. The one thing Veena was sure of was the age of her husband. He wasn’t her age. He was older than her my at least 30 years. Veena felt her legs trembling and finally, all the sadness and despair that was built up inside her burst. She crumpled to the floor and started sobbing uncontrollably. As her aunts, mother, and grandmother wailed as all their hard work melted off from Veena’s face in front of their very eyes, her father slapped Veena and apologized profusely to her now angry husband to be. After all, he couldn’t lose this business opportunity. He harshly dragged Veena through the door by one arm, but when that didn’t seem to work, he brutally took her up in his arms and took her down the aisle. The last thing Veena felt before she went numb was her father’s fingers leaving her body, making her feel utterly alone. The veil lifted and Veena’s eyes locked with those of her husband’s.

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WORKS CITED Mailonline, Charnamrit Sachdeva For. “Child Brides Break down in Tears as They Are Forced to Marry Boys in Secret Footage of Mass Indian Wedding Ceremony.” Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 2016. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

Strutt, Aaron. “What Is It like to Be a Child Bride?” BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

Thomas, George. “India’s Innocent: Secret Weddings of Child Brides.” CBN.com (beta). N.p., 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

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Human Rights in Yemen: Where is the Accountability?

Grace Easterly The Yemeni Civil War has been called a “forgotten crisis” (Norton). As the world’s attention was turned to Syria, the conflict in Yemen, beginning in March 2015, has killed 10,000 people, driven 1.8 million people out of their homes, and has left 80% of the population in need of water, food, and basic medical supplies (Allen). The main factions in the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebels, have been accused by Human Rights Watch of using illegal cluster munitions, unlawfully detaining aid workers, and indiscriminately bombing civilian areas (“World Report 2016”). Saudi Arabia, the main leader in the coalition against the Houthis, has blockaded Yemen by air, land, and sea, resulting in widespread malnutrition and a humanitarian crisis of staggering magnitude. Civilians have also suffered from indiscriminate bombing, like in October 2016, when the Saudi-led coalition launched a funeral strike, killing over one hundred civilians and injuring over five hundred more during a large public funeral. Fragments of US-made bombs were found in the rubble after the attack (Emmons).

Despite well-documented human rights abuses on both sides, the UN Human Rights Council failed in September 2016, for the second year in a row, to send an independent human rights inquiry to Yemen (Nebehay). A week before the convening of the council, eleven prominent international NGOs addressed a public letter to the Human Rights Council, calling on the Council to send an independent inquiry, a crucial step for human rights accountability, claiming that “no valid human rights-based reason has been identified that would justify failing to create an international inquiry.” If the Council fails to take more direct action, the letter warned, the council will have “shirked its mandate to promote accountability, failed to help provide victims of violations in Ye-

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men the justice to which they are entitled, and undermined its own credibility as the Council marks its tenth anniversary” (“Urgent Need”). To many observers, the Human Rights Council did not pass the test.

As the letter notes, the Human Rights Council marked its tenth anniversary in 2016, but it was not the first human rights committee of the United Nations. Its predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights, was considered failed and was disbanded by a General Assembly vote of a huge margin because of what many called its “political selectivity.” According to the Commission’s critics, the only countries who were held accountable for their violations were those who were relatively disentangled from global geopolitics (Ghanea). The conflict in Yemen is an important case study for examining the current Council’s commitment to distinguishing itself from its controversial predecessor, and prove that it is not limited by the same geopolitical dynamics. But as in the former UN Commission on Human Rights, state and corporate interests act as barriers to true human rights accountability. The actors in this saga—Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United States, among others—seem too wrapped up in corporate and political interests to embrace international human rights standards within the Human Rights Council. After all, the Human Rights Council is not an isolated body; it is entangled in the political and economic interests of its member states.

Some have pointed to the powerful Saudi Arabian influence on the Human Rights Council as an explanation for the lack of human rights accountability in Yemen. Salma Alder, a representative from the Cairo Institute, claimed that the UN Human Rights Council agreement “puts Saudi Arabia’s desire for impunity above the need to

protect the people of Yemen” (Wintour). It is true that Saudi Arabia has a personally invested interest in Yemen. For the last nineteen months, the Saudi Arabian military has led a coalition of nine Middle Eastern countries against the Houthis in the Yemeni Civil War. The controversial coalition has been accused of war crimes by many international observers for its use of cluster bombing in civilian areas and its naval and air blockade that has resulted in a shortage of food, water, and medical supplies (Borger).

While Saudi Arabia has political incentive to keep a human rights inquiry out of Yemen, the United States, another member of the Council, has economic incentive. The two nations have had struck several significant military deals since before the Yemen conflict started. The United States has been supplying Saudi Arabia with arms since 2010, when the Pentagon made an arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $60 billion of fighter aircraft, helicopters, and program support that was slated to last for twenty years (Levine). Andrew Shapiro, the assistant secretary of state, claimed that the deal would “enhance regional security and stability rather than diminish it.” (Quinn). Just five years after the initial deal, Saudi Arabia launched the coalition in Yemen, using its newly purchased American-made aircraft. Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator from Vermont and vocal critic of the US’s support of Saudi Arabia, described in an interview with NPR how the US provided support to the coalition in the form of intelligence and refueling to Saudi aircraft, saying, “‘I think it’s safe to say that this bombing campaign in Yemen could not happen without the United States.’”(“As Yemen’s War Worsens”). Accusations of human rights abuses in the months following the launch of the Saudi Arabian coalition did not stop the US-Saudi Arabia partnership and high priced arms deals. In October 2015, just six months after Saudi Arabia started the naval blockade that resulted in the mass malnutrition of half of Yemen’s population (Norton), the US State Department approved a $11.25 billion program to update the Saudi Arabian navy (Defense Security Cooperation).

As powerful members of the UN Human

Rights Council, were the United States and Saudi Arabia reluctant to send an international independent inquiry to Yemen because of their involvement in the conflict? Evidence suggests as much.

As of November 1, 2016, Saudi Arabia was reelected to the Human Rights Council (Bukuru). If the UN Human Rights Council leadership remains the same, justice is not likely to be found for the citizens of Yemen anytime soon. If the UN Human Rights Council is unable to hold these states accountable for their crimes, then who is?

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WORKS CITED Allen, Craig, Joe Burgess, Ben Hubbard, Jeffrey Marcus, Sergio Peçanha, and K.K. Rebecca Lai. “How the U.S. Became More Involved in the War in Yemen.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Oct. 2016. Web. “As Yemen’s War Worsens, Questions Grow About The U.S. Role.” All Things Considered. NPR. 11 Oct. 2016. NPR. Web. Borger, Julian. “Saudi-led Naval Blockade Leaves 20m Yemenis Facing Humanitarian Disaster.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 05 June 2015. Web. Bukuru, Joyce. “How Saudi Arabia Kept Its UN Human Rights Council Seat.” Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 03 Nov. 2016. Web. Defense Security Coorporation Agency. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) Ships. USNI News. U.S. Naval Institute, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. <https://news.usni.org/2015/10/20/ document-notification-to-congress-on-proposed-foreign-military-sale-of-four-lockheed-martin-freedomclass-ships-to-saudi-arabia>.

Emmons, Alex. “Photos Show Fragments of U.S. Bombs at Site of Yemen Funeral Massacre.” The Intercept.

The Intercept, 10 Oct. 2016. Web. Ghanea, Nazila. “I. From UN Commission on Human Rights to UN Human Rights Council: One Step Forwards or Two Steps Sideways?” International and Comparative Law Quarterly ICLQ 55.03 (2006): 695705. Web. Levine, Adam. “U.S. Plans $60B, 20-year Arms Deal with Saudi Arabia.” CNN. Cable News Network, 21 Oct. 2010. Web. Nebehay, Stephanie. “Activists Cry Foul as U.N. Decides against Yemen Rights Probe.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 29 Sept. 2016. Web. Norton, Ben. ““A Forgotten Crisis”: Mass Starvation in Yemen as U.S.-backed Saudi War & Blockade Push Millions to Brink of Famine.” Salon. Salon Media Group, Inc., 29 Jan. 2016. Web. Quinn, Andrew. “U.S. Announces $60 Billion Arms Sale for Saudi Arabia.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 20 Oct. 2010. Web. Sengupta, Somini. “Saudi-Led War in Yemen Frays Ties With the U.S.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Dec. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

“Urgent Need for International Inquiry on Yemen.” Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 22 Sept.

2016. Web.

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Wintour, Patrick. “Saudi Arabia Agrees Compromise on Inquiry into Yemen Abuses.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 29 Sept. 2016. Web. “World Report 2016: Yemen.” Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 27 Jan. 2016. Web.

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Human Rights and the Fair Trade Coffee Industry Kanyon Iwami From the coffee berry’s humble discovery in Ethiopia nearly a thousand years ago, coffee is now globally consumed at a rate of 2 billion cups a day and is the second most traded commodity in the world (Luttinger, and Dicum IX). Having the largest share of Fair Trade (FT) agricultural producers and workers, the coffee industry is at the forefront of the agricultural sector for social responsibility and sustainable development (Dragusanu, Giovannucci, and Nunn 219). This paper will discuss the Fair Trade model and the international market pressures placed on small producers in coffee producing regions often associated with high levels of poverty and corruption. The last sections will cover the impact of FT mechanisms on communities and cooperatives, and necessary reform that should be made to improve democracy and transparency in order to reduce the risk of human rights violations in the coffee industry.

Today, 80% of the world’s coffee is produced by small to medium sized farms, whose agrichemical inputs, such as fertilizers, and labor unfortunately eliminate most remaining profits (“Coffee Farmers”). The small farm, categorized as less than 25 acres, contributes to over half of the global coffee supply, and nearly 25 million small-scale farmers rely on coffee as their only source of income (Daire, par. 2). These small farms take the largest hit when global prices drop, and must rely on cooperatives and subsidies to survive during downturns.

Labor on small coffee farms is split up into four categories: fixed-salary laborers, family members, temporary harvest laborers, and casual laborers (Daire, par. 5). Temporary harvest laborers are usually migrant workers working on contracts, while casual laborers work during the off-harvest season. During harvest seasons in Honduras up to 40% of temporary harvest workers are children, and in Kenya

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some temporary laborers make only $12 a month (“Food Empowerment Project”, par. 4). In a Verite study that surveyed 372 migrant coffee workers in Guatemala, roughly 59% reported that they were struggling to pay for daily living expenses, 34% reported a lack of understanding of the mechanisms behind their pay and deductions, and 10% reported suspicions of deception of the weight of the coffee they had picked (“Research on Indicators” 34-36).

Of the 372 workers interviewed, 85.8% reported that their children helped them to harvest coffee, and 98.8% reported that minors were working at their previous coffee plantation job (“Research on Indicators” 46). Low labor wages often go hand-inhand with labor rights violations; the dysfunctional commodity chain is at fault.

I. Fair Trade Mechanisms

The Fair Trade system creates a channel for farmers to pull themselves out of poverty. From 1997 to 2012, the program grew to an impressive 1.2 million FT-certified farmers exporting to nearly 120 countries (Dragusanu, and Nunn 2).

FT works with hundreds of companies to improve sourcing to sustainable producers. The model has allowed individual farmers and cooperatives to receive much higher prices for their coffee as a result of the emphasis on the quality of the beans (Rice, par. 10). Integrated in the pricing model are premiums for cooperatives that support improving the quality of life in their communities. FT argues that its investment in quality has helped small farmers and cooperatives receive better pricing, increasing income flow to rural impoverished areas, thus fostering their development (Rice, par. 5). Although quality does not directly correlate to justice, it is one of the most effective means to promote justice

in the dysfunctional coffee industry where small producers and laborers are marginalized. Fair Trade organizations have promoted sustainability movements in importing countries, trickling more money down to small producers, and aiding the economic development of local communities.

II. Price Volatility The international market forces that determine the price of coffee have been very volatile since the collapse of the quota system of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) in 1989. The ICA is a United Nations protected trade agreement between exporting and importing countries which helped to keep coffee prices stable during the 1960s and early 1970s and strengthened the coffee infrastructure of developing nations (â&#x20AC;&#x153;ICO,â&#x20AC;? par. 3). The collapse of its quota system ended the stability of global coffee prices, leaving farmers without a secure investment planning horizon (Mehta, and Chevas 5). The volatility of prices in the coffee market prevents governments of developing nations from investing in coffee agriculture, and it is especially damaging to small farmers who are unable to predict their annual income year-by-year and do not have the capital to sufficiently survive price drops. Fair Trade organizations attempt to bring greater income share to these producers, who are made even more vulnerable due to unpredictable global prices.

III. Impact of Fair Trade

The actual impact of Fair Trade in helping coffee producers fight poverty has recently come under heavy scrutiny. A Harvard study of Costa Rica FT coffee producers found no benefit to the poorest workers in the industry (Dragusanu, and Nunn 27). The study found evidence that FT does not particularly increase the income of coffee farm laborers who are not skilled coffee growers or farm owners (Dragusanu, and Nunn 28). However, the positive local impact of Fair Trade premiums is exemplified by the higher school attendance rates in regions of Costa Rica as a result of investments and scholarships funded by the premiums. Neverthe-

less, there was also a correlation to reduced school attendance rates of children of coffee growers, most likely due to children moving from schools to the workforce as a result of financial opportunities granted by Fair Trade price floors (Dragusanu, and Nunn 28).

Supply chain experts from I-DEV International, a leading investment and business strategy firm, met with farmers and cooperatives in Indonesia to see the real impact of FT on local communities (Spindler, and Chin-Sweeney, par. 2). They found that coffee cooperatives were investing their FT premiums and becoming highly sophisticated and well-equipped operations, while individual farmers felt disconnected from the co-ops and had no idea how much their coffee was selling for (Spindler, and Chin-Sweeney, par. 4).

The majority of farmers from a study in Nicaragua had very little understanding of the Fair Trade certification system, and were not familiar with the rights and responsibilities that were entailed with selling to the FT market (Valkila, and Nygren 16). Despite lacking this information, 46% of surveyed households in Nicaragua engaged in FT were able to make household investments, while only 10% of those not engaged in FT made similar investments. Despite farmers not being fully engaged with the FT system, they do still benefit from the local development that it enables (Bacon et al. 269).

The higher quality of coffee supposedly sold as FT is another point of debate. Due to lower demand for FT coffee, farmers will sell their lower quality bags at the FT price floor and receive $1.40/ lb while selling their high-quality beans off-FT for much higher. In this way, FT can be used to sell low-quality beans at price higher than the quality deserves (Haight, par. 16).

FT labeling organizations (FLO) have helped mainstream corporations understand that sourcing is becoming important to consumer choices. Fair Trade labeled products rose from 11% in 1998 to 42% in 2003, proving that there is a huge market gap to fill for FT labeled products (Nicholls, and Opal 142). However to what extent does the massive growth in Fair Trade labeled products actually

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help to benefit the individual producers?

Fair Trade must re-engage the individual farmer to remain relevant in the socially-conscious specialty coffee movement and must come up with a tiered specification system like LEED, a rating system established by the U.S Green Building Council which includes operations, maintenance, and design in order to promote continuous improvement (Spindler, and Chin-Sweeney, par. 4). This article is in no way an attack on FT nor does it serve to discredit the significant impact FT has on contributing to the development of rural communities.

Furthermore, co-ops need to be more democratic and transparent. The Pachamama Cooperative serves as an ideal example of how co-ops should be run and were originally meant to run. Owned by 150,000 family farmers, it is a Fair Trade co-op and the first company to use TraceableCoffee.org, a consumer to producer linking database that allows consumers to locate and contribute to individual coffee farmers (“traceablecoffee.org,” par. 1). Pachamama producers want consumers and retailers to realize that buying sustainable coffee shouldn’t be socially branded as a luxury or an act of philanthropy, but as a standard norm (Garvie, par. 1).

IV. Conclusion

Since 2011, global coffee consumption has grown 1.3% annually and will continue to rise as the middle classes of developing nations grow (“Global Coffee Consumption”). Most of the value of the bean comes after the producers lose ownership, putting individual farmers at a huge disadvantage. Over the past few decades, coffee producing countries have had an increasingly disproportionate income share compared to the nations involved in coffee retail. Since the ICO no longer has direct influence on the global coffee supply, socially conscious economics must be applied to prioritize individual coffee farmers and temporary harvest laborers, the most vulnerable and marginalized groups along the commodity chain. Although Fair Trade may act as a safety net to certified producers during coffee price downturns, the benefits of FT are decreased during seasons of price stability or high

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market prices. The increased costs from adhering to social and environmental standards favour skilled and income-stable farmers in the certified market.

The modest additional income that FT provides to low-intensity and impoverished farmers may not provide them with the financial cushioning necessary to escape their poverty .

Fair Trade organizations share the goals of bringing greater income share to the individual farmers through various complex mechanisms.

Despite imperfections, these models exemplify the necessity for changing a supply chain whose foundation rests upon human rights abuses. There must be constant innovation in the Fair Trade model for the coffee industry, which serves as the forefront for social responsibility and sustainable development in the agriculture sector. FT should consider a certification system tiered on coffee quality, implement stricter transparency requirements for cooperatives, and commit to developing relationships with individual farmers. Pricing mechanisms must be transparent to ensure pay equality and to improve the understanding of FT standards in producer communities. There must be programs that develop methodologies for farmers in rural areas to obtain information on current global coffee prices, to prevent loss of income share to exploitative cooperatives.

WORKS CITED Bacon, Christopher M. et al. “Are Sustainable Coffee Certifications Enough to Secure Farmer Livelihoods?

The Millennium Development Goals and Nicaragua’s Fair Trade Cooperatives.” Globalizations 5.2 (2008): 259–274. Print.

“Coffee Farmers.” Fairtrade Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2016.

Daire, Seth. “Farmers and Laborers in the Global Coffee Supply Chain.” Human Trafficking Center Blog.

N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

Dragusanu, Raluca. “The Impacts of Fair Trade Certification: Evidence From Coffee Producers in Costa Rica.” Web. Dragusanu, Raluca, Daniele Giovannucci, and Nathan Nunn. “The Economics of Fair Trade.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 28.3 (2014): 217–236. Print.

“Global Coffee Consumption.” International Coffee Organization. N.p., 14 Oct. 2016. Web. 3 Nov. 2016.

Haight, Colleen. “The Problem with Fair Trade Coffee (SSIR).” Stanford Social Innovation Review. N.p., 2011. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

“International Coffee Organization - History.” International Coffee Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

“International Coffee Organization - The Current State of the Global Coffee Trade | #CoffeeTradeStats.”

N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 1 May 2016.

Luttinger, Nina, and Gregory Dicum. The Coffee Book: Anatomy of an Industry from Crop to the Last Drop. The New Press, 1999. Print.

Mehta, Aashish. “Responding to the Coffee Crisis: What Can We Learn from Price Dynamics.” Journal of Development Economics 85.1-2 (2008): 282–311. Print.

Nicholls, Alex, and Charlotte Opal. Fair Trade: Market-driven Ethical Consumption. London: SAGE, 2005.

Print.

Research on Indicators of Forced Labor in the Supply Chain of Coffee in Guatemala. Guatemala: Verite, 2011. Print.

Rice, Paul. “Fair Trade: A Model for Sustainable Development (SSIR).” Stanford Social Innovation Review.

N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

Spindler, Jason, and Patricia Chin-Sweeney. “The Future of Fair Trade…Is There One?” Stanford Social Innovation Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

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“The Contribution of Fair Trade to Securing Human Rights in Agriculture.” United Nations Human Rights Office of the Commissioner. 5 Nov. 2013: n. pag. Print.

“Traceablecoffee.org.” N.p. 2010. Web. Valkila, Joni, and Anja Nygren. “Impacts of Fair Trade Certification on Coffee Farmers, Cooperatives, and Laborers in Nicaragua.” Agriculture and Human Values 27.3 (2010): 321–333. Print.

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Citizen Journalism: Policing Human Rights in the Age of Social Media Lavanya Hinduja With increasing accessibility to technology people have been accumulating news in the form of photographs and video footage and disseminating it through social media. This bourgeoning field called citizen journalism has broadened the definition of what is considered newsworthy by decreasing our dependence on the long established middle man – the mass media - to democratize the sources of content we are exposed to, making lesser-known issues part of the global discourse. Amongst several other types of information, citizen journalism has uncovered extensive human rights violations be it isolated incidents or systemic abuses, such as police brutality towards African Americans in the United States. With anyone, anywhere acting as a sensor of information, citizen journalism has tremendous reach to uncover human rights violations. The civil war in Syria is one of the most compelling examples of this with ordinary citizens continuously exposing human rights abuses on the ground to the world. Citizen journalism offers a new way of monitoring human rights, however to do this effectively the evidence captured needs to verifiable. In light of the challenge of verifying citizen evidence, the question in debate is to what extent citizen journalism can uncover and provide evidence to address human rights violations?

Since the start of the Syrian civil war, local and foreign journalists have faced increasing and often fatal challenges to reporting on the ground.

The crackdown by the Assad regime and kidnappings and beheadings by the terrorist organization Daesh, have left Syria almost void of journalists.

However these obstacles have been somewhat powerless in preventing citizens from reporting by taking photographs and video footage and uploading it on the Internet. Christoph Koettle, an Emergency Response Manager at Amnesty International

USA and a pioneer in the field of citizen journalism, has labelled the crises in Syria the first “YouTube War”, just as Vietnam was the first “Television War” (Koettle, “The YouTube War”). Assad’s crackdown in Hama in July 2011 was met with a flood of video footage on YouTube showing government forces shelling and firing guns at unarmed civilians (Black). On August 21, 2013 the sarin gas attacks on Ghoutta, the suburbs of Damascus, were also immediately followed by a wave of citizen journalism, bringing the distressing footage and images to laptop and Smartphone screens globally. The blatant human rights violations of this incident shown through social media raised the spectre of the Syrian crises amongst the international community.

The citizen evidence from the attacks on Ghouta provided evidence for governments to build a case against the Assad regime. The White House cited more than 100 videos and thousands of social media posts in their assessment of the attacks (“Citizens Journalists’ Coverage”). The Senate Intelligence Committee also used some of these videos in their assessment (“Syrian Chemical Weapons Use Videos”). The immediacy with which information about the use of chemical weapons in Syria was able to reach the international community is remarkable considering the lack of reporters on the ground. In using the videos, human rights researchers were able to determine certain key facts prior to the more comprehensive UN investigation on the ground (Koettle “Citizen Media Research”, 2).

In 2014 barrel bomb attacks targeted civilians in 3 towns in Syria. Human Rights Watch investigated the attacks using citizen journalism and interviews with witnesses and doctors who treated the victims (“Syria: Strong Evidence”). A video uploaded to YouTube on April 11 2014 shows the tra-

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jectory of a munition, which appears to be a barrel bomb that was dropped by a helicopter, a crucial piece of information given that only the government in Syria had access to helicopters (“Syria: Strong Evidence”). Several other videos show yellow smoke after the explosion indicating the possibility that chlorine was used (“Syria: Strong Evidence”).

The cylinders and canisters shown in photographs and footage following the attacks were also marked with the symbol of chlorine gas (“Syria: Strong Evidence”). Although Human Rights Watch cannot confirm whether the chlorine gas cylinders seen in the videos were dropped in the barrel bombs from the helicopters, the use of chlorine is confirmed in videos showing victims’ symptoms and interviews with medical personnel (“Syria: Strong Evidence”).

Citizen journalism signalled the use of the toxic properties of chlorine, which is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993 that Syria joined in 2013 (“Syria: Strong Evidence”).

By its very nature citizen journalism has a very broad reach compared to traditional reporting by professional journalists. While this means that more human rights violations can be uncovered, there is the risk that the information conveyed is selective and subjective, and therefore potentially inaccurate. To counter this problem citizen journalism requires verification to ensure that the evidence reported is legitimate. This entails establishing who captured the evidence, when and where the incident took place, and the chain-of-custody – whose hands the evidence has gone through. In Syria most of the citizen journalists are activists fighting for a cause, which can often be reflected in what they choose to report on. In some cases activists have fabricated their evidence.

In 2012, a photojournalist who goes by the name Mani went to Homs and filmed a documentary on a group Syrian activists who film the atrocities committee by the Assad regime (Giglio). Mani’s documentary aired by Channel 4 News shows Omar Tellawi, a prominent Syrian activist, embellishing his video (Giglio). In the documentary Tellawi tells his colleagues that since they are not in the midst of the violent shelling in the Baba Amr district of Homs they would have to set a tire on

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fire to fabricate the look of smoke from the battle in the background (Giglio). They went ahead with this plan, however there was an actual explosion in the background just seconds later proving that there was no need for such embellishments with the undeniable reality of violence that is constantly on display in Syria (Giglio). Although it is understandable that Tellawi wanted to re-create the distressing and violent atmosphere that was just moments away from them and capture the media’s short attention span, such embellishments only undermine the credibility of their photographs and videos.

In addition to graphic embellishments, there is also the risk that reports by citizen journalists are selective. Mani noted that Tellawi and his fellow activists intentionally excluded any mention of the armed opposition by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), as this would strengthen Assad’s claim that the revolution against him is being lead by armed “terrorists”, as appose to innocent civilians (Giglio).

However this risk of selectivity extends beyond citizen journalism with the FSA also trying to control media coverage by demanding that foreign journalists entering Syria use FSA translators and drivers (Dettmer). While they argued this was to protect the journalists as they venture into war-torn Syria and to prevent the influx of inexperienced freelancers, journalists have stated that the FSA seemed to have been trying to secure positive media coverage (Dettmer).

Many activists in Syria are important sources of information for well-established news platforms. Danny Abdul Dayem – “Syria Danny”- is a prominent activist who has appeared on CNN and Al Jazeera among other networks. However the Syrian government has accused Dayem of fabricating his videos to present a distorted version of reality (Cooper). Syrian state television aired leaked footage allegedly showing Dayem staging gun fire in the background in preparation for his live broadcast with with CNN’ s Anderson Cooper (Cooper).

In an interview with Anderson Cooper Dayem has denied these claims and further stated that there is no need to manipulate the videos because of the reality of the atrocious acts committed by the Assad regime in Syria (Cooper). Dayem has also previous-

ly openly stated that he is not an impartial reporter but an activist who wants the international community to support the Free Syrian Army in their effort to overthrow the Assad regime (The Telegraph).

Verification is needed to ensure the credibility of citizen journalism and to uphold evidence unveiling human rights violations in Syria and beyond. However this can prove challenging in cases where activists and journalists are targeted and killed daily. Some citizen journalists in Syria use proxy servers in other countries, making it harder for the government to trace the evidence back to them (Sutter). Shaam News Network (SSN), an aggregator of citizen journalism in Syria that was founded in 2011 with the purpose of thwarting efforts by the Assad regime to spread false information, has made the verification process somewhat easier and safer (Sutter). To protect their identities citizens can upload their videos to YouTube and then text the information and context of the videos to SSN who verify the details and distribute the videos more widely (Sutter). In fact many of the videos cited by the US government in their assessment of the 2013 Ghoutta attacks were from SSN, which may not be a best practice considering that SSN has made mistakes in the past, with some fake videos and photographs making it through to major news platforms like the BBC (Sutter).

Another problem is that the Assad regime actively tries to undermine citizen evidence. A Syrian activist, Anas Qties told CNN that the Assad regime fakes activist videos to discredit them (Sutter).

According to Qties, the Assad regime and their supporters operate Fake SSN YouTube channels and Facebook pages (Sutter). While such propaganda by the Assad regime has failed to conceal the blatant human rights violations they have committed, it has to some extent undermined the credibility of citizen journalism. The Russian government has often cited embellished videos and photographs created by rebels to justify their support for Assad and to denounce claims that the regime was behind the 2013 gas attacks in Ghoutta among others (“Syria Chemical Attack”).

The challenge of verifying citizen journalism is very real but should not undermine the potential

of verified citizen journalism to uncover human rights abuses. In 2014 the International Criminal Court convicted Thomas Lubanga to 14 years in prison for committing a war crime under the Rome Statute by conscripting children under the age of 15 into his militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The prosecution relied heavily on video footage captured by a local organization to make its case (“From the DRC to the ICC”; “Situation in the DRC” 11). With the video’s chain-of-custody confirmed, the Trial Chamber and the Appeals Chamber accepted it as credible evidence (Kennedy). Without proper verification, citizen evidence can function more as propaganda rather than legitimate evidence, however once verified, it can serve as an invaluable means of indicting human rights perpetrators in a court of law.

Christoph Koettle of Amnesty International has been leading the way in finding ways to meticulously verify citizen journalism so that it can be used to monitor human rights abuses and hold perpetrators accountable. Using Google Satellite Imagery, Koettle was able to verify the exact location of a video taken on a mobile phone showing mass graves in Burundi that supposedly had the bodies of civilians killed by security forces in the violent political upheaval in December 2015 (Rajvanshi).

He used geographic clues from the video as well as from the citizen who shot the video to do this (Rajvanshi). Once authenticated the video validated witness reports that security forces killed dozens of civilians and dumped their bodies into mass graves (O’Grady). Although government security forces were suspected of the killings, which left up to 87 dead, there was no evidence for what was done with the corpses, which were cleared from the streets by nightfall (O’Grady). Using a similar method Koettle was also able to authenticate a cell-phone video that showed a Nigerian soldier murdering an unarmed civilian (Koettle “How Technology Helped”). Following this one clip Koettle went on to analyse more than 150 clips that unveiled atrocities committed by the Nigerian armed forces (Koettle “How Technology Helped”). This culminated in a report released by Amnesty International in June 2015 on the war crimes committed by the Nigerian

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Military (“Stars on their shoulders”).

Koettle’s verification method consists of content analysis – a frame-by-frame viewing of the video – and metadata review – such as corroborating evidence with geo-tagged photographs of the same incident (Koettle “How Technology Helped”).

However Koettle emphasizes that in addition to the standard verification process of confirming the time and location of an incident, human rights fact-finding benefits from securely interviewing witnesses to identify the specific violations and those who committed them (Koettle “How Technology Helped”). Koettle has founded Amnesty’s Citizen Evidence Lab, an online platform to share techniques and tools for authenticating citizen media, so that it can be used as evidence for human rights defence. Koettle has also contributed to the Verification Handbook: a definitive guide to verifying digital content for emergency coverage, which discusses best practices for verifying citizen media.

Other organizations and platforms are providing similar tools to develop the field of citizen journalism to monitor human rights violations.

WITNESS is an international NGO dedicated to training activists to safely and effectively film videos that expose human rights violations. Another company called Storyful verifies user-generated videos and distributes it to newsrooms. Together Witness and Storyful have created the Human Rights Channel on YouTube, which curates eyewitness reports of human rights abuses. Well-established news platforms are also directly engaging with citizen media. CNN launched iReport, and The Guardian launched GuardianWitness, where people can upload images and videos, some of which are then verified.

In not being bound by considering what may be newsworthy for networks and ratings, and being able to capture unforeseen incidents, citizen journalism undoubtedly offers an effective new way to uncover and address more human rights violations. It is true that citizen journalism cannot be considered a replacement for professionally objective reporting by journalists on the ground. However through critical assessment of the subjectivity and weaknesses of citizen media, and through the

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development of methods of verification, citizen journalism should be embraced as a means of policing human rights.

WORKS CITED Black, Ian and Nour Ali. “Syria: 100 Die in Crackdown as Assad Sends in His Tanks.” The Guardian 31 July, 2011. Web. 1 April 2016.

Cooper, Anderson. “Syrian Activist Responds to Accusation.” CNN 5 March, 2012. Web. 1 April 2016.

“Citizen Journalists’ Coverage of Syria’s War via YouTube, Twitter ‘unexplored territory’.” The National 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 April 2016.

“Court of Appeals Upholds Conviction of Congolese Warlord Thomas Lubanga.” Witness. Web. 10 April 2016.

Dettmer, Jamie. “Syria’s Media War.” The Daily Beast 4 April 2013.

“From the DRC to the ICC: The Prosecutor V. Lubanga: The Role of Video in the Criminal Justice Process.”

Witness. Web. 10 April 2016.

Giglio, Mike. “Syrian Rebels Caught Embellishing on Tape.” The Daily Beast 27 March 2012.

Kennedy, Alanna. “Prosecutor V. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Appeals Judgement, Case No. ICC-01/04-01/06, International Criminal Court”. War Crimes Office. 28 February, 2015. Edited by Katherine Cleary Thompson.

Koettle, Christoph. “Citizen Media Research and Verification: An Analytical Framework for Human Rights Practitioners.” Practioner Paper 1. Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge, 2016. Human Rights in the Digital Age. Koettle, Christoph. “How Technology Helped us Expose War Crimes in Nigeria.” Amnesty International 4 June, 2015. Web 1 April 2016.

Koettle, Christoph. “‘The YouTube War’: Citizen Videos Revolutionize Human Rights Monitoring in Syria.”

Mediashift N.d. Web. 1 April 2016.

Malsin, Jared. “Why it’s Getting Harder to Report on Syria.” Columbia Journalism Review, 22 Sept. 2014.

Web. 1 March 2016.

O’Grady, Siobhan. “Satellite Images Point Finger at Burundian Forces in Mass Killing.” Foreign Policy 28 Jan. 2016. Web. 1 April 2016.

Rajvanshi, Astha. “In Human Rights Reporting, the Perils of too much Information.” Columbia Journalism Review 14 March. 2016. Web. 1 April 2016.

Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, ICC-01/04-01/06. Trial Chamber I, International Criminal Court. 26 Jan. 2009. N.p. Web. 1 April. 2016. (p.11).

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“Stars on Their Shoulders. Blood on Their Hands: War Crimes Committed by the Nigerian Military.” Amnesty International June 2015. Web. 1 April 2016.

Sutter, John D. “‘SNN,’ YouTube Help Amplify Voices in Syria.” CNN 29 May. 2012. Web. 10 April 2016.

“Syria: Strong Evidence Government Used Chemicals as a Weapon.” Human Rights Watch 13 May. 2014.

Web. 1 March 2016.

“Syria Chemical Attack: What We Know.” BBC 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 April 2016.

“Syrian Chemical Weapons Use Videos.” U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. N.d. Web. 5 April 2016.

“Syrian Citizen Journalist on Reporting Inside Homs.” The Telegraph 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 1 April 2016.

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The Lobbying of the Catholic Church Against Reproductive Rights Emily Hockett Discussing the legal history of his native China in Waiting for the Dawn, Huang Zongxi describes a time when order was maintained without a centralized state power. Communities satisfied their needs by establishing systems of agriculture and education without the help of the government (Zongxi 97). Zongxi praises this functional and equitable system, and credits its unprecedented interruption to an attempt on behalf of emperors to further their own power (Ibid.). This account supports Zongxi’s main claim in Waiting for the Dawn: that leaders should favor decentralized government, empowering and educating communities to make decisions for themselves.

This argument contradicts Niccolò Machiavelli’s position throughout The Prince, favoring the centralization of power and authority. When assessing these differences, it is important to consider the contrasting geopolitical climates of these two foundational political scientists. The two famous works were written about 150 years apart from each other (The Prince in 1513 and Waiting for the Dawn in 1663 and). Zongxi is writing in dynastic China, an empire with a huge, heterogeneous population, while Machiavelli is writing in what we now call Italy, which was, at the time, a group of small, homogeneous city-states. But the difference between the two works is not just contextual. It is emblematic of an ideological opposition between the two about the motives of a leader. While Zongxi believes a leader should always act in the best interest of his populous (though he concedes that this is not always the reality), Machiavelli asserts that a leader will always act in his own self-interest. He writes The Prince to advise his leader on how to maximize that interest.

In his discussion of the papacy, Machiavelli praises Alexander VI, a Renaissance pope who ad-

mitted to fathering multiple illegitimate children, for showing “how much can be done in that office with money and arms”(Murphy; Macchiavelli, 33).

Consistent with his claim that people will always act in their own best interest, Machiavelli asserts that Pope Alexander VI’s intent “was to aggrandize the duke and not the Church” (Ibid.). A successful pope, according to Machiavelli, is one who abuses the power of the church to stay in the good graces of the imperial power du jour.

The Vatican has very different thoughts from Machiavelli about the role of the pope. He is the spiritual leader of the 1.2 billion Catholics of the world, as well as the head of state of Vatican City, the world’s smallest sovereign nation, with a population of 690. His spiritual responsibilities take precedent over his stately ones, so he is expected to represent the interest of the members of the Catholic Church (Willey). Though history has sometimes indicated otherwise, the following advice will be based on the assumption that the pope acts according to the interest of his Catholic constituency, promoting and asserting God’s will to the members of the church he leads. This piece will argue that the pope should adopt a Zongxian style of leadership as opposed to a Machiavellian one. To this end, the pope should stop the Catholic Church’s lobbying efforts to limit access to abortion in the US. The church’s involvement in public policy is against the institution’s moral and political interest, and it is also contradicts the church’s founding scripture.

The policies in Catholic hospitals across the continental United States and all around the world are dangerous for the future of the Catholic Church in the US. They violate US law and Canonical law, and they are physically dangerous to women.

Machiavelli believes that all leaders should take a militant approach to governance. He should

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control his people by force to maximize his power and authority. According to Zongxi, this approach is not only unethical, but it is also bound to backfire. Rulers who establish laws that diminish the freedom of the populace to increase their own authority will end up doing the opposite. Zongxi argues, “as [the laws] become tighter they become the very source of disorder” (Zongxi 98). Instead, Zongxi proposes a political utopia without a strong centralized government, where “there would be a spirit among men that went beyond the letter of the law” (Zongxi 99). Zongxi is not advocating for complete anarchy. He acknowledges the importance of government, but sees limits to what it can achieve. Zongxi’s vision, one where people act out of faith in the law instead of blindly following its letter, is a fantasy shared by Jesus Christ a century and a half earlier. In his infamous “Sermon on the Mount,” a speech to his disciples transcribed in the Gospel of Matthew of the Christian Bible, Jesus recounts the “thou shalts” of the Hebrew Bible, and takes each one beyond its literal meaning. When discussing the Hebrew Bible’s prohibition of adultery, Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”(New International Version, Matthew 5:27-29). The most central tenant of Jesus’ teachings is a move beyond the literal Word of God, in pursuit of the meaning and motive behind His words. Jesus, like Zongxi, envisions a community that is governed by covenants, not by laws.

The determination of these covenants, Zongxi argues, depends on an educated public. Education allows for a natural system of checks and balances and social mobility, both of which serve to maintain stability and order, especially in an empire as large as China. Zongxi writes: “Schools were meant to imbue all men, from the highest a court to the humblest in country villages, with the broad and magnanimous spirit of the Classics. What the Son of Heaven thought right was not necessarily right; what he thought was wrong was not necessarily wrong. And thus even the Son of Heaven did not dare decide right and

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wrong for himself, but shared with the schools the determination of right and wrong” (Zongxi 127).

Again, Zongxi uses the word “spirit,” which has Christian connotations. He advocates for a humble, honest exploration of right and wrong. He opposes the imposition of objective morals, understanding that the internalization of morals and laws can only come from inside the individual. Zongxi believes that the determination of right and wrong is not static. It is not a process that will ever be complete, and schools serve to foster this determination so that each generation can create their collective conception of morality.

Despite its lobbying efforts that may indicate otherwise, the Catholic church has publicly declared its commitment to creating a collective conception of morality. The church called itself “a living body,” in Communio et Progressio, a Vatican Declaration issued in 1971, elaborating: “[the church] needs public opinion to sustain a giving and taking between her members. Without this, she cannot advance in thought and action.” This statement reveals the moral and legal responsibility the Catholic Church has to represent the interest and opinion of its 1.2 billion members worldwide. This legal responsibility is known as the doctrine of the reception, and is explained further by Canon lawyer James Coriden: “the obligatory force of church law is affected by its reception by the community… reception is not a demonstration of popular sovereignty or an outcropping of populist democracy.

It is legitimate participation by the people in their own governance” (Coriden).

In recent times, religious participation is at an alltime low in the US, especially among young people. 27% of Millennials (born 1981-1996) say they attend religious services on a weekly basis, compared with 51% of adults in the Silent generation (born 1928-1946) (Wormald). When assessing the political power of religion, Machiavelli writes that, “[ecclesiastical states] are sustained by the ancient principles of religion which are so powerful and of such authority that they keep their princes in power whatever they do, however they live” (Machiavelli 32). The Prince was written in 1513, and while the work is famous for its timeless ideas, this assess-

ment on the power of religion is not one of them.

Pope Francis is well aware of the millennial generation’s absence from the religious institutions of their parents. In an effort to address young people directly, the Pope took to Twitter, writing: “Dear Young Friends, your names are written in heaven in the merciful heart of the Father. Be brave and go against the tide!” on April 23, 2016. The following day, @Pontifex (the pope’s Twitter handle) tweeted, “Dear Young People, with the grace of God you can become authentic and courageous Christians, witnesses to love and peace.” These are short pieces of advice (they have to be—they are limited to 140 characters) that the Catholic Church should consider taking if it wants to appeal to young Americans.

The church is not the only institution that Americans millennials are wary of. A poll conducted by Harvard’s Kennedy School found that more than three-in-five (62%) of 18-29 year old Americans agree with the Machiavellian statement that “elected officials seem to be motivated by selfish reasons” (“Trust in Institutions…”). The same study showed recent increases in agreement with the statements “political involvement rarely has any tangible results,” and “elected officials don’t seem to have the same priorities I have” The unexpected popularity of 2016 presidential candidate and self-declared democratic socialist Bernie Sanders further supports the evidence that millennials are disillusioned with “establishment” politics. Sanders has focused his campaign on exposing and promising to change the American government’s allegiance with large corporations resulting from unregulated campaign contributions.

Some Catholics are applying this anti-establishment rhetoric that has earned Sanders his popularity to a critique of the “Catholic hierarchy.”

Catholics for Choice, a pro-choice non-profit that identifies as “part of the great majority of the faithful in the Catholic church who disagree with the dictates of the Vatican on matters related to sexuality, contraception and abortion” (‘The Truth about Catholics… 4). The organization’s position paper continues to assert: “The Catholic hierarchy’s lobbying against contraception and abortion has

disastrous effects on women’s lives both in the US and abroad” (Ibid.). These objections to the Vatican’s lobbying are shared by many others, Catholic and non-Catholic. They are a part of an increasingly vocal constituency pointing out that, while the Catholic Church claims to represent the values of their members, they silence and punish those who disagree with their political agenda.

Despite the Zongxian values it claims, the church has acted according to Machiavellian principles throughout its history. Thus, to gain the respect and participation of the next generation of Catholics, the pope should take the advice he gave to young people via Twitter. In the name of the authenticity he preaches, he should bravely “go against the tide” and reform the corrupt political practices of the Vatican. He should start by putting an end to the church’s anti-choice lobbying efforts. By removing itself from public policy, the church is not only distancing itself from the political system that young people are fed up with, but it is also displaying faith in members’ ability to make their own decisions.

The US has a long history of denying women their human rights. Women were not afforded the right to vote in the US until 1920, and Title IX, the civil rights law that prohibits gender-based discrimination, was not passed until 1964 (“Title IX and…”).

The Catholic Church also has a long history of prejudice against women. As recently as November of 2015, Pope Francis called pregnancy an “affirmation of the dignity of the woman” in a conversation with anti-choice advocates (Schneible). This implies that women who do not choose motherhood, or women for whom motherhood is not an option, do not have dignity in the eyes of the church.

Vatican officials, all of whom are men, are not in a place to decide what affirms a woman’s dignity, especially not when they are supporting legislation that prohibits abortion even in cases of rape or incest. Telling women that their “dignity” depends on giving birth to their rapist’s child is dehumanizing and demoralizing, especially when this message comes from an institution that they have participated in disproportionately. America\n women have higher levels of religious engagement than men, so the papacy has a responsibility to empower and ed-

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ucate women to make their own decisions, even if those decisions “go against the tide” of the historic position of the Vatican (Jones, Laser & Cox).

It is not only in the Catholic Church’s best political and moral interest to avoid inserting itself into public policy, it is also their responsibility according to canonical law. The Second Vatican Council’s “Declaration on Religious Freedom” explicitly advises Catholics to respect the positions of other faiths. Thus, even in predominantly Catholic countries (of which the US is not—about 20% of the population identifies as Catholic) laws governing access to abortion do not need to adhere to the official Catholic position.

Though many may argue that the lobbying efforts against abortion on behalf of the church are insignificant in the grand scheme of American politics, the consequences of the church’s intervention in US abortion policy are grave. There are 600 Catholic hospitals in the United States, comprising about one-fifth of all hospital beds in the country. About 45 Catholic hospitals in the US are sole providers, meaning they’re the only hospital serving a community (Becky). These hospitals are governed by 72 ethical and religious directives written by the US Conference for Catholic Bishops and enforced the local bishop (“An Authentically Catholic…”).

Ann Neumann, editor of the Revealer, a pro-choice Catholic news outlet explains the consequences of these restrictive directives: “In most Catholic health care facilities, the conscience of the church supersedes the rights of patients and individual doctors by limiting care services according to Catholic doctrine. Men, women, the elderly, the poor and the victimized – effectively, entire communities served by Catholic hospitals – suffer a drastic and often traumatic loss of patients’ rights when information or services are denied, particularly when a Catholic hospital is the only game in town” (Neumann).

Catholic hospitals receive about half of their funding from the Federal government via Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, but they can claim exemption from federal laws through a web of “conscience” clauses (Garrison). The Catholic idea of conscience is the basis for the directives described

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above. In Catholic doctrine, deep regard is given to the conscience, and Canonical scholarship has concluded that the conscience of the individual supersedes the teachings of the church. The Catechism, a foundational document that summarizes the principles of the Catholic Church, states that, “a human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience” (“Compendium: Catechism…”)

Richard McBrien, professor of Theology at Notre Dame, explains the importance of the conscience in his essential study Catholicism, explaining that, even in cases of a conflict with the moral teachings of the church, Catholics “not only may but must follow the dictates of conscience rather than the teachings of the church” (McBrien).

An institutional conscience that supersedes the conscience of the individual is a Machiavellian grasp of power on the part of the Vatican. If the Vatican doesn’t stop its anti-choice lobbying efforts, it will lose the respect and support of the Catholics it claims to serve. Catholic hospitals across the country are denying American women access to the rights their government guarantees, and the church is quick to punish those who break their strict guidelines.

Sister Margaret McBride, a member of the ethics board at St. Joseph’s hospital in Phoenix, Arizona was excommunicated from the church in November of 2009 after authorizing an abortion that saved the life of a 27-year-old mother of four. When the hospital issued a statement in support of McBride’s decision, the Bishop of Phoenix stripped them of their “Catholic” status (Garrison). Even though the regional bishop made this decision, and these laws are US-specific, these institutions carry far less religious, legal, and moral authority than the Vatican.

This is why the pope must lead the way in ending the Catholic churches involvement in public policy, starting with abortion.

WORKS CITED “How Many Roman Catholics Are There in the World?” BBC News. Accessed May 09, 2016. http://www. bbc.com/news/world-21443313.

“The Truth about Catholics and Abortion.” Catholics for Choice. 2011.

Compendium: Catechism of the Catholic Church. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Coriden, James. “The Canonical Doctrine of Reception.” Jurist, 1990.

Garrison, Becky. “Playing Catholic Politics with US Healthcare | Becky Garrison.” The Guardian. 2010.

Accessed May 09, 2016.

Huang, Zongxi, and De Bary William Theodore. Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Jones, Robert P., Rachel Laser, and Daniel Cox. “Survey | Committed to Availability, Conflicted about Morality: What the Millennial Generation Tells Us about the Future of the Abortion Debate and the Culture Wars.” Public Religion Research Institute, June 6, 2011.

Machiavelli, Niccolò, Quentin Skinner, and Russell Price. Machiavelli: The Prince. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism. Minneapolis, MN: Winston Press, 1980.

Murphy, Francis Xavier. “Alexander VI.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Accessed May 10, 2016. http:// www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-VI. Neumann, Ann. “Does the Vatican Have a Say in Your Health Decisions?” Alternet. November 02, 2009.

“America’s Changing Religious Landscape.” Pew Research Centers Religion Public Life Project RSS. 2015. http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/.

Schneible, Ann. “Pope Francis to Pro-life Activists: You Are the World’s Good Samaritans.” Catholic News Agency. November 9, 2015. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-to-pro-life-activistsyou-are-worlds-good-samaritans-72480/.

The Bible: New International Version. London: NIV, 2008.

“COMMUNIO ET PROGRESSIO.” The Order the Second Vatican Council. 1971. http://www.vatican.va/ roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_23051971_communio_en.html.

“An Authentically Catholic Hospital.” The Revealer. December 21, 2010.

“Title IX and Sex Discrimination.” Title IX and Sex Discrimination. Accessed May 09, 2016. http://www2.

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ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html.

“The Institute of Politics at Harvard University.” Trust in Institutions and the Political “Pope Francis (@Pontifex) | Twitter.” Twitter. Accessed May 9, 2016.

Willey, David. “Who, What, Why: What Does a Pope Do?” BBC News. March 19, 2013. Accessed May 10, 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21842721.

Wormald, Benjamin. “In Many Ways, Younger Americans Are Less Religious Than Older Americans.” Pew Research Centers Religion Public Life Project RSS. October 29, 2015. http://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/ u-s-public-becoming-less-religious/pf-2015-11-03_rls_ii-02/.

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A Brutal Backlash: The State of Feminism on the Web Emily Bellor The internet can be an obscenely hostile place for women and it seems to be getting worse. I could list the names and slurs I’ve been called by strangers online in response to comments I have made on topics that range from gender and women, to gun control and violence. These experiences of online sexism, trolling, degradation and harassment are not limited to me, but are experienced by many women who speak their mind about many topics, especially feminism, on the internet. The reasons for this are complex. Postfeminism, contemporary feminism, and recent achievements in gender equality have converged to cause a backlash against women and feminism that has extended to the realm of social media.

Postfeminism is a Western phenomenon unlike any other anti-feminist movements. As Angela McRobbie explains in her book The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change, it encompasses elements of feminism, “drawing on a vocabulary that includes words like ‘empowerment’ and ‘choice’ [which] are then converted into a much more individualistic discourse […] as a kind of substitute for feminism” (McRobbie 1).

McRobbie goes on to argues that through popular culture there is also an undoing or dismantling of feminism, not in favor of re-traditionalism, women are not being pushed back into the home, but instead there is a process which says feminism is no longer needed, it is now common sense, and as such it is something young women can do without” (McRobbie, 8).

Postfeminism is inextricably linked with capitalism, consumer culture, and neoliberalism; it emphasizes women’s individual pleasures, desires, and above all the choices available to women, particularly consumer and economic choices. McRobbie writes, “by means of the tropes of freedom and

choice which are now inextricably connected with the category of young women, feminism is decisively aged and made to seem redundant” (McRobbie, 11). This view of feminism as “redundant”, as “common sense” because of the belief that women have already achieved full equality, is one major reason why support for the movement has suffered in recent years.

As McRobbie later discusses, the neoliberal, postfeminist focus on individualism and the power of choice also serve to make the responsibility of an individual’s successes or failures entirely their own (McRobbie). This focus on the individual disregards social processes and institutionalized oppressions. Those who attempt to call attention to continued oppressions and their effects—say, feminists—are frequently silenced and accused of not accepting responsibility for their own status in life.

This frequently occurs through mainstream and social media. Those who seek to preserve patriarchal power and the gender hierarchy use these platforms to continue to vilify and negatively stereotype feminists, and they succeed in making contemporary feminism hated and “quite unpalatable to younger women” (McRobbie 1).

Consequently, a vast majority of young women are eschewing feminism, and this phenomenon can be clearly seen on the internet—in fact, there is an entire online countermovement dedicated to it: Women Against Feminism. The website is filled with selfies of young women holding pieces of paper bearing the words “I don’t need feminism because…”, followed by any number of reasons, many of which revolve around choice and personal responsibility, such as, “whatever I want to do or be in life, I will become through my own hard work,” or “I can take responsibility for my actions” (Women Against Feminism). Other statements fall in line

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with the belief that feminism is no longer necessary: “I don’t need feminism to perpetuate the myth that twenty-first century women are oppressed”. Many women featured on the site are holding up cards that read some variation of “I don’t need feminism because I love men!”, or as one woman elegantly puts it, “I heart the D,” harkening back to the ageold stereotype that feminists hate men (Women Against Feminism). These girls and women who refuse the notion that they could ever be “oppressed” or “victims” of anything, least of all sexism, quintessentially capture the postfeminist mentality.

More insidious, however, are the seemingly endless men against feminism who have found an outlet for their vicious misogyny online. Anti-feminist men can be found in high numbers on the websites Reddit and 4chan—which feminist blogger Anita Sarkeesian describes as “an incubator for misogyny” (Sarkeesian). Some of the content posted on these websites is nothing short of terrifying.

There is a Subreddit called “The Red Pill”, a space dedicated to developing men’s “game” and “sexual strategy” to pick-up women (The Red Pill). The website in essence is a guide for men to re-establish control over women in a sexual way. The Red Pill asserts that “our culture has become a feminist culture”, and that everything men have been taught is a lie (The Red Pill). The website is home to vile and misogynistic discussion. One post advocates for treating women like children because they “[suck at] regulating their internal state.” Another post titled “Operant conditioning: How to train your woman”, dehumanizes women completely and suggests that men “train” their girlfriends as they would a dog, since women “have innate submissive/obedient tendencies”. One of the posts is a self-described rant entitled “I don’t hate women, I just don’t respect them, and unless many changes within their gender come about, I never will,” in which he writes, “for all of men’s downfalls, nothing comes close to the manipulative, cold and psychopathic nature of women.” Interestingly, he suggests that women are so awful, and so powerful, that men should “not only disrespect them, but fear them” (The Red Pill).

The fear of women’s power, or of wom-

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en gaining power, seems to be a common thread among anti-feminist men online. It should be predictable then, that when advances are made in the fight for gender equality they lash out. A perfect example of this is the GamerGate movement, which has a presence in multiple online spaces including Reddit, 4chan, Twitter, and YouTube. The movement was born out of a tirade Eron Gjoni posted online, in which he claims that his ex-girlfriend, the game developer and feminist, Zoe Quinn slept with a writer to secure a good review of her game (Doyle). It’s ostensibly about ethics in gaming journalism, but at best, it’s really just a thinly-veiled group of mostly white men revolting against equal gender representation in video games, who are intent on “pushing feminist voices […] out of the video game community” (Doyle). At worst, some have labelled it a terrorist movement. According to Anita Sarkeesian, “for several decades, the industry catered almost exclusively to a straight, white, male demographic. The new reality is that gaming is becoming a more diverse and inclusive environment for everyone” (Sarkeesian). GamerGate is seemingly unable to accept this and has reacted to the changing tide in a notoriously violent manner. Its supporters use various techniques to terrorize feminist women in the gaming community, some of which are illegal. They are known to “dox” their feminist critics, meaning they release a woman’s personal information (e.g. phone number or address) on the internet (Hern). Another tactic of theirs is “SWATing”: prank-calling the police and reporting an emergency, sending an armed SWAT team to the target’s home (Doyle). Not only is this a federal crime but the consequences are potentially lethal. One victim has already required surgery after being hit in the face with a rubber bullet (Doyle).

GamerGate even had the feminist game developer, Caroline Sinders’s mother SWATed (Doyle).

GamerGate’s most frequent method of terrorization is online harassment and defamation. Many outspoken feminists have received graphic and disturbing tweets. Zoe Quinn received the message: “I’m not only a pedophile, i’ve raped countless teens, this zoe bitch is my next victim, i’m coming slut” (Doyle). Feminist YouTuber Anita

Sarkeesian is also bombarded with rape and murder threats, one user tweeted at her: “I’m going to rape your cunt with a pole” (Sarkeesian). Bloggers have also had their faces superimposed onto pornographic images. Sady Doyle is not exaggerating when she says women in the gaming industry live in “fear of imminent rape and/or violent death” (Doyle). Anita Sarkeesian has been the victim of defamation as well, through GamerGate’s use of impersonation (widely circulating tweets they pass off as hers) and conspiracy theories that suggest she is embezzling money, brainwashing audiences, faking her harassment, and pretending to be white. Anita Sarkeesian describes the reason behind her harassment as the result of, “paranoia about feminists taking over [the field of ] video games” (Sarkeesian).

So much of the hatred and backlash against feminism and its supporters stems from the belief that feminism is no longer necessary—that sexism has been eradicated in the Western World. But as I’ve shown here—and as I’ve experienced myself— there is a whole new world of sexism and misogyny alive and well, just a few clicks away. Ironically enough, the violence and misogyny evident in reactions to advances in gender equality and the online backlash against feminism prove that feminism is very much needed. These internet users have lives off the web; they vote for policies and officials and they walk the same streets that I do at night. The state of feminism, postfeminism, and misogyny online are indicative of their respective states in the real world, and for that reason they matter—and they must change.

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WORKS CITED bitchdantkillmyvibe. “I don’t hate women, I just don’t respect them, and unless many changes within their gender come about, I never will.” The Red Pill. Reddit. Web. 29 Feb. 2016 Doyle, Sady. “Why SXSW’s ‘Harassment Summit’ Is a Terrible Solution to Harassment”. In These Times, 9 Nov. 2015. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

GayLubeOil. “Treating Women Like Children.” The Red Pill. Reddit. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Hern, Alex. “Felicia Day’s public details put online after she described Gamergate fears.” The Guardian, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2016.

McRobbie, Angela. The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change.London: SAGE, 2009.

Print.

Sarkeesian, Anita. “Anita Sarkeesian: Feminist Frequency – XOXO Festival (2014)” YouTube, 7 Oct. 2014.

Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

The Red Pill. Reddit. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

TRPsubmitter. “Operant Conditioning: How to train your woman.”

The Red Pill. Reddit. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Women Against Feminism. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

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“I was not born a revolutionary” Akshara Anirjita

I was not born a revolutionary With guns in my hand And rebellion under my mud skin I wasn’t born to break With hatred in my electric soul And death in my sky eyes I was not born to overthrow With anger in my being And surreptitiousness in my doing I wasn’t born to wage wars of words and fires With a feeling of sisterhood with the oppressed And odium of the benumbed I was not born with the dreams of Che Guevera, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Fidel Castro Nor With a feeling of solidarity with the ghosts of their methods I was not born to run in the streets bleeding for justice With swords in my arm And shouts in my throat But I wasn’t born blind either…

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Photos of Black Lives Matter Protests in New York Natalia Maverakis

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Poor Water Quality as a Human Rights Violation Sophie Barker Many citizens of the U.S. believe clear, drinkable tap water to be guaranteed. This illusion is periodically shattered each time the cleanliness of a public water source is compromised, but the outrage surrounding such events often diminishes almost as soon as it arrives. However, one recent failure in water quality preservation has been highly publicized and widely followed. The contamination of public water in Flint, Michigan due to poor preventative measures and blatant neglect is a violation of the human right to clean and drinkable water, according to a United Nations report (see below.)

In addition, the failure to provide safe water in Flint is far from the only case of its kind: Flint represents a widespread problem of poor infrastructure and misuse of technology, as well as the insufficient allocation of money towards public water preservation (as preventing pollution is often more effective than purifying it) and decontamination, exacerbating the violation of the human right to safe drinking water.

The human right to clean water was outlined in a 2010 United Nations General Assembly report, which “recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights” (UN General Assembly, 2.) This report was created as an addition to the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” a document adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, following the atrocities of World War II, in an effort to maintain minimum international standards of living. Since water is vital, inaccessibility to clean, potable water may also violate Article 25 in the original declaration, which states that all people have a right to the components of a healthy life. With the implicit requirement of the right to clean water in the original and the explicit definition in the later report, there

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is no question that providing citizens with water that causes serious health side-effects is a human rights violation.

The neglect and willful ignorance that led to the contamination of the public water system in Flint was prolonged and repeated, meaning that the city officials in charge had numerous opportunities to correct their various mistakes and check the damage. According to both MSNBC and New York Times timelines, in April of 2014 the city of Flint, struggling economically, switched its water supply source from the Detroit system to the less expensive Flint River. During the spring and summer of 2014, Genesee County, Michigan documented an unprecedented number of cases of the potentially deadly air and vapor borne legionnaires disease (Minicuci.) While the rise of this disease cannot be definitively proven to be a result of the change in water source, three pieces of evidence point in this direction: the timing of the rise of the disease correlates with the source switch, forty-seven percent of the patients treated for legionnaires were located within the Flint water district (the remainder likely contracted the disease from medical facilities and other avenues when these initial cases spread, according to the department of health report), and the bacteria were identified in Flint’s McLaren Hospital (Henry.) In total, eighty-seven cases of legionnaires, including nine deaths, have been reported in Flint and the surrounding area between 2014 and 2015, compared to the average of seven cases reported in the four years before the crisis arose (Bouffard).

Public officials’ reaction to this outbreak was not only insufficient, but also likely stimulated the spread of the disease (Davey.) Legionnaires is contracted through water vapors, so showering in water with legionella bacteria is considered very

dangerous (“Legionnaires’ Disease Cases Tied to Showers.”) Yet Flint officials published a flyer in the fall of 2014, reassuring its residents that bathing in the contaminated water would have no negative side effects and encouraging them to continue their normal bathing habits, (Grzegorek.) Such misinformation could lead citizens to contract either legionnaires or lead poisoning, especially newborns as pictured on the flyer.

Arguably even more severe water contamination was caused by corrosive pipes (due to a failure to add the necessary anti-corrosive chemicals to the water), causing iron and lead to leach into Flint’s public water system, according to a study conducted by an independent research team from Virginia Tech (Flint Water Advisory Task Force). A series of blunders by officials in Flint continued throughout the controversy, exacerbating the issue (Roy.) People began to complain almost immediately after the switch about the taste and color of the water, and cited rashes and other health problems. The World Health Organization explains “changes in the normal appearance, odour or taste of a drinking-water supply may signal changes in the quality of the raw water source or deficiencies in the treatment process and should be investigated” (WHO, 7.) And yet Flint officials failed to recognize a potential threat, and instead advised citizens to continue to consume and use public water.

According to the New York Times timeline of events, the controversy began in October of 2014 when the GM factory located in Flint complained to the government that the water caused its car parts to corrode (“Events that Led to Flint’s Water Crisis.”) Officials took no action. In January of 2015 the city declined an offer from Detroit, Michigan, its previous water supplier, to switch back to this source at a discounted rate. Flint officials deemed this action too expensive still. That February, the first in a string of private homes was tested by a city employee. The tap water was found to contain 104 parts per billion (ppb) of lead, 91 ppb over the EPA-recommended amount (“Events that Led to Flint’s Water Crisis.”) In March this home was tested again and found to contain lead in 397 ppb. By this time, children of Flint were beginning to show

high lead concentrations in their blood streams.

Medical professionals at Hurley Medical Center in Flint warned the city of the dangers of the water, but city officials took no heed. This is also shown in a set of emails between Jim Henry, a Genesee County environmental health supervisor, and officials from the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), who repeatedly denied any claims of toxic water (Henry).

Finally, the New York Times timeline concludes, in October of 2015 residents of Flint were cautioned not to drink or bathe in Flint public water, and were advised to install filters. On December 14, 2015, over a year and a half after the Flint River became the city’s new water source and health threats became apparent, city officials declared an emergency. Later that month, the director of the Michigan DEQ resigned. In January 2016, the Flint water crisis was declared a national emergency (“Events that Led to Flint’s Water Crisis.”)

The health effects caused by this crisis were completely preventable from the very beginning. This is indicated in the report done by Virginia Tech researchers, which plainly states: “The Flint water crisis is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice” (Flint Water Advisory Task Force, 5).

Had the water source remained the same or had the proper anticorrosion chemicals been added, the people of Flint would likely not be facing the same health issues: “Flint water customers were needlessly and tragically exposed to toxic levels of lead and other hazards through the mismanagement of their drinking water supply” (Flint Water Advisory Task Force, 5). This report charges that the city’s failure to protect its citizens from dangerous health side-effects was the cause of continuous and inexcusable blunders.

The carelessness and disregard for human rights in Flint, Michigan was highly publicized.

However, other cases of poor water quality resulting in negative health effects (either potential or realized) show that the contamination of water in Flint is hardly the only violation of the human right to clean water in the United States. In fact, the violation of this right is more systemic than

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it may seem. This is due in part to the standards for drinking water quality set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For example, studies show that the presence of arsenic in drinking water may be cancerous, no matter the level.

However, the EPA allows up to 50 ppb of the toxin.

With the current EPA requirement for the acceptable level of arsenic in water sources, lifetime fatal cancer risk is about 1 in 333 (NRDC, 17.) EPA regulations also permit lead in water systems at up to 15 ppb, although lead has also been shown to be hazardous at any level, especially to small children and infants (WHO, 393.) A 2003 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, claims that the national water regulations are too lenient: “this fact does not imply low contaminant levels, but rather weak standards: in short, the EPA has written most standards in a way that most cities will not be in violation” (NRDC, 17.) If public water systems are inspected and found to exceed the allowable quantity of toxic substances, legal consequences to the city authorities or officials are often either non-existent or very slim. Between 2004 and 2009 more than 49 million people received unsafe drinking water; however, only 6% of these systems were fined or punished (Duhigg). The reliability of drinking water in the U.S. is impaired not only by poor standards, but by an ineffective enforcement of these standards.

Numerous examples of water system pollution and contamination resulting in public health problems also demonstrate a lack of preparedness in handling accidental pollution. For instance, according to National Geographic, in 2014 a chemical leak from a power plant poured over 10,000 gallons of MHCM (a colorless oil used in coal production) into Elk River, the local water supply.

Over 400 people were hospitalized within a week for symptoms of contamination from the chemical, such as rashes, nausea, and vomiting (Friend). Further, officials from West Virginia American Water informed the nine affected counties that the water was safe to consume again before there was proper evidence of its quality; company officials decided to use the water once again based on a statistic in an unpublished paper on the chemical’s effect on

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animals (Howard).

Some accidental pollution is to be expected in agricultural or industrial areas. However, budgetary limits cause water contamination in many unexpected locations as well, such as major cities where residents do not think twice about consuming unfiltered tap water. For example, a 2015 ranking of U.S. cities conducted by Pelican Water Systems found that public water in Pensacola, Florida contained 21 chemicals in concentrations that pose a health risk, including lead, benzene, and cyanide (Pelican Water.) Further, contamination in the U.S. is largely avoidable: “Documented waterborne disease outbreaks are primarily the result of technological failures or failure to treat the water” (Reynolds.)

If we compare water in America to that of other developed nations, the country falls noticeably short.

The NRDC recognized this issue in 2003, when it pointed out that “with today’s technology, four state-of-the-art advanced treatment techniques are available and used in Europe and elsewhere in the world but are rarely used alone in this country and virtually never together,” referring to ozone, granulated activated carbon, ultraviolet (UV) light treatment, and membrane treatment (such as reverse osmosis or nanofiltration) (NRDC, 23.) These new technologies are often too expensive for city governments to afford. But in this case, it is even more vital to maintain outdated technologies and follow the standards for water quality that are in place.

Any less would mean compromising the health and well-being of U.S. citizens, which is exactly what occurred in Flint. Because the UN considers the accessibility of sanitary and potable water to be a human right, the failure to properly purify drinking water and enforce water quality standards is an indisputable violation of human rights.

WORKS CITED “Events That Led to Flint’s Water Crisis.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Jan. 2016. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/21/us/flint-lead-water-timeline.html?_r=0>.

Bouffard, Karen. “Hospital Ties Legionnaires’ to Flint Water.” Detroit News. N.p., 23 Jan. 2016. Web. Davey, Monica, and Mitch Smith. “Emails Reveal Early Suspicions of a Flint Link to Legionnaires’ Disease.”

The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Feb. 2016. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/us/ emails-reveal-early-suspicions-of-a-flint-link-to-legionnaires-disease.html>.

NRDC. What’s on Tap. Publication. N.p., June 2003. Web. <https://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/uscities/ pdf/chap02.pdf>.

Friend, Tim. “Water in America: Is It Safe to Drink?” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 17 Feb. 2014. Web. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140217-drinking-water-safety-westvirginia-chemical-spill-science/>.

Henry, Jim, and Genesee County Health Department. “Information Request and Documentation.” Message to City of Flint. 10 Mar. 2015. E-mail.

“Legionnaires’ Disease Cases Tied to Showers.” The New York Times. N.p., 11 June 1990. Web. Minicuci, Angela. “Increased Cases of Legionnaires Disease Investigated in Genesee County.” Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. MDHHS, n.d. Web. <http://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-73970_71692-373401--,00.html>.

Duhigg, Charles. “Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Dec. 2009. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/energy-environment/08water. html>.

Roy, Siddhartha. “MDEQ Mistakes and Deception Created the Flint Water Crisis.” Flint Water Study. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015. Web. <http://flintwaterstudy.org/2015/09/commentary-mdeq-mistakes-deception-flint-water-crisis/>.

UN General Assembly. Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly on 28 July 2010. Digital image. UN Oficial Documents. UN, `3 Aug. 2010. Web. <http://www.un.org/es/comun/docs/?symbol=A/ RES/64/292&lang=E>.

UN General Assembly. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. N.p.: United Nations, 1948. Web. <http:// www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf>.

World Health Organization. Publication. WHO Press, 2006. Web. <http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_ health/dwq/gdwq0506.pdf>.

Grzegorek, Vince. “Update: Michigan Has Now Deleted the Ridiculous Flint Water “bath Time” Poster.”

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Metro Times. N.p., 9 Jan. 2016. Web. <http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2016/01/08/this-flintwater-poster-from-the-state-of-michigan-is-ridiculous>.

“Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief Money Damages and Jury Demand.” (n.d.): n. pag. United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 13 Nov. 2015. Web. <http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2016/ images/01/10/may.et.al.v.snyder.et.al.-.pacer.1.complaint.for.injunctive.and.declaratory.relief.pdf>.

Howard, Brian Clark. “West Virginia Chemical Spill Poses Unknown Threat to the Environment.” National Geographic Society, 14 Jan. 2014. Web. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140113-west-virginia-chemical-spill-ecological-effects-science/>.

Pelican Water. “Top Ten Worst Water Cities in the US.” Pelican Water Systems, 05 Jan. 2015. Web. <http:// www.pelicanwater.com/blog/top-10-worst-water-cities-us/>.

Reynolds, Kelly A., Kristina D. Mena, and Charles P. Gerba. “Risk of Waterborne Illness Via Drinking Water in the United States.” Springer Link. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, n.d. Web. <http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-71724-1_4>.

Flint Water Advisory Task Force. Final Report. Tech. N.p.: Office of Governor Rick Snyder, State of Michigan, 2016. Print.

MSNBC Staff. “Flint Water Crisis: A Timeline.” MSNBC. NBC News Digital, 27 Jan. 2016. Web. <http:// www.msnbc.com/msnbc/flint-water-crisis-timeline>.

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How to Stop Radicalization: Islamic Literacy Through Liberal Arts Karim Dewidar Counterterrorism efforts by the United States and its partners in the Muslim world over the last few decades have primarily functioned to treat rather than cure the causes of terrorism. The War on Terror has been successful in taking out leaders and key infrastructure of terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East. This approach by the United States has been able to disrupt to prevent attacks and diminish the overall capacity of terrorist organizations. However, self-proclaimed Islamic terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda remain a threat and new, more deadly, organizations such as Isis have emerged.

The counterterrorism efforts most prevalent today will not be successful because they do not address the lack of “Islamic literacy”, which contributes to the adoption and proliferation of violent puritan ideologies by terrorists under the guise of Islam (El fadl: 200). More effective counterterrorism measures need to focus on increasing literacy rates to enable individuals to read Islamic texts for themselves, and ensuring a richer education in the liberal arts to empower young Muslims with the ability to think critically about their faith and identity. Certainly then, fewer people in the Muslim world will believe or rationalize the merits for supporting these violent puritan ideologies that terrorist organization propagandists espouse.

Education attainment in the Middle East and North Africa region, which on the whole is a less developed region, is inhibited by a myriad of factors including: conflict, financial constraints, inefficient bureaucracies, and cultural barriers. Although research shows that Middle Eastern countries have made great strides over the last few decades in education, adequate schooling in this region remains allusive (World Bank: 2014). The millions of Syrian children affected by the civil war

that cannot go to school (UNICEF: 2014) or the children in the Gaza that have to make do with poorly funded schools (Brookings: 2014) exemplify the issues surrounding education. The same can be said of Muslim majority countries in South and Central Asia that suffer from terrorism. The case of Malala Yousafzai, whom the Taliban tried to kill because she wanted to go school or the millions of Pakistani children that work rather than going to school (Chaudry: 2012) further exemplify the challenges of for those seeking an education in this region of the world.

The lack of access to primary education in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia have made illiteracy a problem in many Muslim majority communities. Looking at Muslims majority countries we can see evidence of a link between high illiteracy rates and terrorism. According to data from UNESCO, the illiteracy rate for adults aged fifteen and above is 19% in Tunisia, 33% in Morocco, and 13% in Saudi Arabia (UNESCO: 2016). These countries also happen to be the three largest sources of ISIS’s foreign recruits (Neumann: 2015). Syria and Iraq, the breeding ground of ISIS, have illiteracy rates of 16% and 21% respectively (UNESCO). Illiteracy rates are also high in Egypt, with 23% (UNESCO), which since the 1950’s has produced numerous influential radical Islamic groups and figures, including Ayman Al Zawahiri, the co-founder of Al Qaeda (Sagemen: 2004).

This trend is also true outside of the Middle East, considering that countries with Islamic terrorists problems like Nigeria—home to Boko Haram and Pakistan have illiteracy rates of 49% and 45% respectively (UNESCO).

In addition to increased literacy at the primary school level, a greater emphasis on the Liberal Arts for teens in high school and young adults

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in college, is needed as part of an effective counter-radicalization process. While the education rates of Muslim terrorists, especially those in leadership positions, tend to be quite high, this only tells half the story since there is little variance in the type of education concentrate on. A 2009 study by sociologists Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog show that Muslim terrorists are 3 to 4 times more likely to have studied engineering, either obtaining a university degree in that field or for those that did not attend university, taking undertaking prerequisite studies in that field to prepare for getting into an engineering univerity. In a distant second place is Islamic studies (Gembetta & Hertog: 2007). Moreover, about 60% of the 400 subjects sampled, all terrorists, had backgrounds in STEM fields. Gembetta and Hertog contend that this phenomenon is unique to Muslim terrorist groups, regardless of geographic location. Even within the sample of Muslim terrorists from Western countries, 60% had backgrounds in engineering (Gembetta and Hertog). The study reveals that these engineers are not merely bomb-makers or technicians, but the high-ranking cadres and spiritual leaders of the terrorist organizations.

A literate population with adequate primary education is a prerequisite to the key component of an effective counter-terrorism education initiative: greater exposure to a Liberal Arts curriculum at high school, and more importantly, at university. Such a curriculum should include: philosophy, literature, history, sociology, political science, and the arts. These fields of study are important because they cultivate vital critical thinking skills and also, allow young people to express themselves in a way designing an electrical circuit cannot. Engineering and other professional fields have become popular in Muslim majority countries over the last few decades, namely as the countries pursue development initiatives. New curriculums with greater emphasis on liberal Arts will supplement, not replace, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) based programs that are popular amongst many Muslim students.

Increasing literacy rates through access to primary education, and fostering critical think-

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ing skills through a more holistic liberal arts education in high schools and colleges will work to address the issue of “Islamic literacy”, a root cause of terrorism. In his book The Great Theft, Islamic Scholar Kaled El Fadl articulates the problem well: “many Muslims are woefully ignorant of their own religion” (El Fadl: 112). Terrorist organizations and their spin-doctors exploit this. In their writings and propaganda efforts they purport to quote things from the Qur’an, the Hadiths, and various sources of Islamic jurisprudence. But often, their “material” is invented, misconstrued, or given without consideration to historical context (El Fadl). Many of the group leaders appear to be religious scholars; they look and act the part. Once these figures gain some prominence they are treated as Imams and command respect from their followers even if they do not have any formal religious education.

So how does a literate society schooled in the Liberal Arts fight terrorism? Being able to read and more importantly to think critically are essential to counteract the process of recruitment. It is not about learning the “right” of Islam interpretation or being offered “an alternative to radicalism” as many people like to argue. It is also not about reforming or modernizing Islam. Individual Muslims are obligated to reading and considering carefully the Qur’an. Ideally, one should also look at the Hadiths and Qur’anic exegesis—Tafsir, on important and controversial issues such as “jihad.”

Literacy will allow people to read the Qur’an for themselves and ascertain what their religious duty is instead of having people like Anwar Al Walki, the infamous Al Qaeda propagandist, tell them what it is.

Various efforts for offering “alternative narratives” to extremists or attempts to “win heart and minds” have failed because they are patronizing and perpetuate feelings of disempowerment.

“Moderate” Muslims, although well intentioned, are no better than terrorist propagandists when at the behest of various governments they attempt to sell young Muslims on the “right” interpretation of Islam. No person or entity has the right to say what Islam means and what constitutes the “right” narrative. Similarly it is not a “Western” education

that is needed. As history has shown Islam is not an anathema to intellect or creativity. Much of what we regard as “Western” in terms of art, music, literature, philosophy, etc. is derived from Muslims civilizations in South Asia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. Thus, this can be seen as return to “Islam’s Golden Age,” where students can engage with the wealth of culture and knowledge that Arab and Muslim societies have been producing for millennia.

Young Muslims, many of whom feel disenfranchised and voiceless, yearn for agency. This education initiative will give them a way of expressing their identity in more constructive ways. It will allow them to define themselves as individuals in these often atomized societies beset with externally imposed social categories— people in Iran are not just Shia or Sunni in Saudi Arabia.

A richer education in the liberal arts will empower young Muslims because they can discover on their own that the ideologies of these terrorists are antithetical to the life and revelations of the Prophet Muhammad. Thus, if governments in the Middle East are serious about addressing terrorism they should make education a priority. Certainly, the United States and other Western governments must put pressure on the regimes they fund or have influence on to increase literacy rates and incorporate a Liberal Arts curriculum in high schools and colleges.

The frontline for the battle against Islamic-based terrorism is not some desert or sleepy village, but the hearts and minds of young Muslims.

It can only be eradicated if they stop interpreting their faith as an endorsement of violence to redress social, economic, and political grievances. The right to an education is not just a human right, but it is a tool that will empower young Muslims and ultimately degrade terrorists. Malala Yousafzai showed how important education is in the fight against terrorism; an educated and independent minded young person scares Islamic terrorists more than any war plane.

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WORKS CITED Chaudry, Serena. Millions Pushed into Child Labor in Pakistan. Reuters. February 1 2012. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-childlabour-idUSTRE8160LA20120207 El Fadl, Khaled. The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam From the Extremists. HarperOne, San Francisco, 2007.

Gambetta, Diego and Steffen Hertog. “Engineers of Jihad.” Department of Sociology University of Oxford:

2007. http://www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/materials/papers/2007-10.pdf Neumann, Peter. “Foreign fighter total in Syria/Iraq now exceeds 20,000; surpasses Afghanistan conflict in

the 1980s.” International Center for the Study of Radicalization. January 26 2015.

http://icsr.info/2015/01/foreign-fighter-total-syriairaq-now-exceeds-20000-surpasses-afghani stan- conflict-1980s/ Sageman, Marc. Understanding Terrorist Networks. U of Pennsylvania, 2004. Print.

United Nation Children Fund. No Lost Generation: The Protecting of Futures of Children Affected by

the Crisis in Syria. 2014. https://www.unicef.org/appeals/files/No_Lost_Generation_Strategic_Over view__January_2014.pdf United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. International Literacy Data. 2013 http://www.uis.unesco.org/literacy/Pages/data-release-map-2013.aspx Watkins, Kevin, et al. The Destruction of Gaza’s School and the Future of Palestinian Children. The Brook

ings Institution. August 4 2014.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2014/08/04/the-destruction-of-gazas- schools-and-the-future-of-palestinian-children/ World Bank. Education in the Middle East and North Africa. January 27 2014. http://www.worldbank.org/en/region/mena/brief/education-in-mena

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Human Rights Violations of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong Rachel Law Hong Kong is known for its cultural fusion of the East and West, its rule of law and for the guarantee of civil liberties that its citizens take pride in. Despite this reputation, a portion of the population has been marginalized to the extent that their human rights are at risk of being violated.

Ethnic minorities in Hong Kong (EM) constitute around 6% of the total population, with a large majority consisting of second-generation immigrants from South or Southeast Asia (HKSAR, Unison Limited). Despite their ties to the city extending back to the colonial period, EMs rarely enjoy the same rights granted to their Chinese counterparts (Unison Limited). Under the provisions of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), EMs are guaranteed fundamental rights such as the right to equal work, equal pay and the right to education. This article will identify and discuss the three most prominent violations of these rights: racial harassment, treatment in employment, and education opportunities.

While EMs in Hong Kong are seldom faced with physically aggressive racial discrimination, they occasionally experience verbal harassment in the form of racial slurs. For instance, people of South Asian heritage are mockingly called ‘Ah-Cha’ because of their accent (Unison Limited). A study conducted by the Hong Kong Society for Community Organization, a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on human rights advocacy, reveals that 82% of EM respondents claimed to have suffered from racial discrimination in daily life, such as people refusing to share a table in restaurants with them (Society for Community Organization; Chan).

The prejudicial treatment of EMs based on

their race, and “misplaced assumptions and stereotypes based on some immutable trait or characteristic” is a clear infringement of the UDHR, which states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” and “everyone is entitled to all the rights set forth in [the] Declaration, without distinction of any kind” (Article 1, 2 UDHR, Kapai).

There currently exists legislation in Hong Kong against the use of racial slurs and hate speech, such as the Racial Discrimination Ordinance introduced in 2008. However, due to their lack of exposure to relevant legislation and the set of rights they are entitled to, ambiguous wording of legislation that leads to ineffective implementation, and the subtle nature of these incidents of discrimination, EMs are still dealing with racial prejudice on a daily basis, especially in terms of employment and education.

Employment opportunities are traditionally limited for EMs in Hong Kong due to language barriers and prejudices against their race. Multiple reports have shown that more than 32% of EMs “have been rejected for employment or interview because of their race or based on some bad excuses” (SCO, Chan, 2001). EMs are also often faced with outright racial discrimination in instances where written Chinese skills are deemed required even when “excellent skills in writing and reading Chinese might not be a necessary criterion for the position” (Kapai). In year 2013, 18% of EMs citing the unreasonable language requirements as reason for their rejection, prompting the United Nations Human Rights Committee to express concern over “non-Chinese immigrants [facing] discrimination and prejudice in employment due to the requirement of written Chinese language skills, even for manual jobs” (Kapai, Coalition for Racial Equality).

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Meanwhile, EMs who are employed are often treated unequally to Chinese employees. A survey done by the Coalition for Racial Equality of Hong Kong Human Rights Commission shows that EMs receive much lower salaries but have longer working hours than Chinese employees on the same job level (Coalition).

The lack of opportunities and unfair treatment are violations of Article 23 of the UDHR, which stipulates everyone’s right to work, just and favorable conditions of work, protection against unemployment, and more specifically, everyone’s right to equal pay for equal work without any discrimination (UDHR). Despite existing legislation against discrimination, the implementation of these laws in the workplace is often restricted by the less standardized nature of manual, seasonal, or part-time jobs, and the occasional lack of official contracts, hindering the improvement of EMs’ working conditions.

Children of non-Chinese descent do not fare any better because their education is severely hampered by a system that discriminates based on race. Firstly, educational resources allocated for ethnic minorities are scarce, given that out of 5,300 EM children aged five to fourteen, only 3,069 are enrolled in the seven schools accepting EMs in Hong Kong, out of which more than 20% have to wait for at least half a year before getting placed (Chan). As for children aged fifteen to nineteen, the Youth Pre-vocational Training Program “has totally ignored the ethnic minorities” (Coalition). Secondly, channels through which EMs can get in touch with schools or seek help are inadequate, with 23.6% of EM respondents claiming that they do not know where to find such a channel, forcing many of them to run their own schools without proper guidance (Chan).

Beyond race, children of refugee parents are faced with the challenge of enrolling in schools while overcoming the challenges posed by a lack of identity documents (Kapai). This reveals that continuous violations of the right to education must be addressed, not only by school authorities, but also the Hong Kong government. However, so far the government has done little to alleviate the inequality in education.

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As for EM children already in school, some argue that the recent introduction of the School Uniform Guide by the Equal Opportunities Commission might be impeding their religious rights and freedoms. The School Uniform Guide, which proposes a uniform code across schools in Hong Kong, recognizes that “some cultures and religions require conformity with specific dress codes… [which] may deviate from the school’s uniform code” (Kaipai). However, it puts greater emphasis on balancing these religious rights with the need to contribute to “school identity and solidarity” (Kapai). Some have welcomed the School Uniform Guide for taking into account the cultural and racial differences within the student body, but others have criticized its vague wording and guidelines, as well as the insufficient “consultation with schools and concern groups representing key stakeholders affected” (Kapai).

These concerns not only urge the Government to adhere to Article 26 of the UDHR, which highlights the role of education in promoting understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, but also reflects “a desire among the ethnic minority community to be heard on these issues since they impact them directly” (UDHR, Kapai).

There are various policies that the Hong Kong Government can adopt to assist and integrate ethnic minorities in Hong Kong by paying closer attention to EMs’ needs and by understanding the challenges they face from their perspective as a minority in a largely homogenous society. Being more empathetic on the government’s part means much more than just having the Equal Opportunities Commission – it means having the genuine willingness to work with NGOs, inviting diverse voices to the conversation, educating the public on acceptance, and prioritizing the need to address ethnic inequality in its policymaking.

The Government’s increasing effort and the general public’s growing attention to the protection of ethnic minorities’ rights in the recent decade is heartening to see, but for Hong Kong to truly be a society of equality, the government and the population need to make a deliberate effort to protect

the core values of fairness and justice in all aspects of the society, so that all members can have equal access to the results of their hard work.

WORKS CITED Chan, Winnie, Janet Ho, Joyce Kwan, Yvonne Lai, Ivan Lok, and Bonnie So. Situation of Racial Discrimination in Hong Kong. City University of Hong Kong, 2001. Web. Coalition for Racial Equality (CORE), Hong Kong Human Rights Commission. July 30, 2001 Hong Kong. 2011 Hong Kong Population Census. Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department, 2011. Web. Kapai, Puja. The Rights of Ethnic Minorities Under The Law: Equality and Non-Discrimination. Centre for Comparative and Public Law. Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong, 2013. Web. Society for Community Organization: Hong Kong (2001).

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