Rachel Amaru’s yard sign reads: “Darfur: End the Genocide.”
And this innocuous statement has generated a minor controversy in the peace-loving town of Boulder.
Turns out, Amaru’s homeowners association says the sign violates covenants banning … well, signs.
Amaru contends that she was unaware of any rule prohibiting signs. After all, she had her “Kerry” yard sign out during the last presidential election. She’s also displayed Israeli flags in the past. She assumed those exhibits would incite more controversy than a sign advocating an end to genocide in northern Africa.
The American Civil Liberties Union has come to Amaru’s defense, claiming that HOA covenants can unfairly infringe on homeowners’ ability to express their First Amendment rights.
I would argue that if you sign an HOA agreement – whether you actually read it or not – be prepared to follow every nonsensical word. (Disclosure: I voluntarily belong to one of these demonic organizations.)
But, as I was happy to find out, the sign isn’t the real story. There’s something far more remarkable going on, as citizens are banding together to bring attention to the atrocities ongoing in Darfur.
In Sudan, the radical Islamic government has armed thousands of soldiers, allowing them to raid the Darfur region and murder an estimated 400,000 people – most of them civilians.
In addition to the killings and mass rape, 2 million civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in refugee camps. As many as 3.5 million Africans are displaced because of the Darfur conflict.
Most Americans – with critical political issues on their minds, no doubt – know far too little about these horrific events.
In 2004, Rabbi Deborah Bronstein of the Har Hashem congregation in Boulder gave a sermon detailing the Darfur situation. It triggered a modest movement.
Becky O’Brien, who now coordinates the Sudan project for Har Hashem and two other congregations, will help bring 14 Sudanese women refugees to Boulder – 11 of them are already here.
Amaru and others are involved in teaching these women how to ride a bus and use a phone. They assist in finding donations for clothing and furniture so the refugees can begin their new life.
How can others help?
“We can start with yard signs.”
Well, you know how that goes, right?
O’Brien says that advocacy and education are imperative. Har Hashem, she says, has co-hosted a Darfur conference with the University of Colorado, attracting 2,000 people. Letter-writing campaigns asking newspapers to provide more coverage of the situation in Darfur can also be helpful.
And contact your elected officials, she says. O’Brien points out that U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo and Sen. Ken Salazar are the Colorado “superstars” when it comes to Darfur.
Gov. Bill Ritter also recently signed bipartisan legislation that cuts financial ties between public pension funds and companies that support Sudan.
“I really don’t think there is any moral ambiguity when genocide is taking place,” Amaru explains. “I’ve done a lot of academic writing about the Holocaust and, frankly, to be a Jew in this world and not respond to things like Darfur is unthinkable.”
Sure, economic sanctions are nice, but history has proved them about as potent as a United Nations resolution. What does all this really accomplish?
Amaru says it’s irrelevant what you think the solution is if most Americans aren’t even aware the atrocities are taking place.
“We have to show that we’re not blind to what’s going on like we were with the Rwanda genocide in the ’90s,” she says. “We live in a bubble in Boulder sometimes. Sometimes we have no clue what’s going on. But sometimes we have to say: This is not supposed to be happening.”
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
