As consequences, some ethnic groups are strongly rejected, if they try to get married from other ethnic groups. The country’s provinces also are divided in classes: for instance, Khartoum is first class, Al-Jazira and the northern provinces are second class and the third class are Darfur and the Southern provinces. The public services and infrastructures depend directly on the previous classification. For this reason, Darfur and South Sudan are the most disadvantaged regions and, their people suffer from all kind of discrimination during decades.

The current confilct in Darfur is ethnical, economical and political:

The power in Sudan is controlled by a specific ethnic groups, those who live in first class provinces and first class zones: They impose their own identity so as to be the unique national identity, ignoring the other identities. Moreover, they despreciate the indigenous Sudanese people and their identies. As I mentioned before, Darfur and South Sudan always considered as third class regions by whole central governments, since independence day, and as consequences they didn’t pay any attention to improve the life of their citizens. They just used their resources so as to build the first class regions (Khartoum and its neighboring regions) Moreover, the Darfurians were used by the sucessive central government as soldiers in order to fight against the Southerners who stood up for their rights, demanding justice. The two regions (Darfur and South Sudan) a part from poverty, misery and lake of infrastructure, they suffered from many losses of their sons, millons killed in the battlefield and many others suffer from amputation, etc.

After decades of war, starvation and misery the Darfurian people has realized that they are dying for nothing, since they are suffering the same as their neighbours in the South. Then they stood up like the southerners, took the arms and demand justice. As the majority of the soldiers of the Sudanese army are Darfurians, the dictatorial regime didn’t dare to use them against their brothers. But, it got benefits from the segregated society system: it armed some people who belong to arabic ethnic group so as to fight against the indigenous attacking the rebels’ bases and their tribes (killing civilans, burning their huts and destroying their resources)

Some indigenous Sudanese people confuse between the ethnic identity and the religious identity, they believe that they’re Arabs because they’re Muslims. However, Arabic people call them “Zourga” (blacks) and all these ethnic disputes are thanks to the segregation system previously mentioned, because it strengthens the tribalism and weaks the real integration between the Sudanese ethnic groups.

The Gray Identity:

As I mentioned before, I divide the identity into two sub-identies: an ethnical identity and a cultural identity. Both of them are susceptible to transformation. Actually, there’s no pure races nor pure ethnic groups. Except some oriental societies like Chinese, Japanese, etc. who still resisting the “racial globalization” even though they’re leading the comertial globalization. The following examples would give you a clear idea about what I mean:

The Gray Ethnical Identity:

In South America the grandsons of the Spanish colonialists, those who conquered America with Christopher Columbus in 1492, demanded their independence from the Spanish Crown, after some centuries living in their new homeland, because they felt more Americans than European, but they were proud to be Spanish and they distinguished themselves from the american native citizens by their Spanish-blood, even though they are a mixed between Spanish settlers and native indian americans and black people. Finally, they got their independence, now their countries are known by “Latin American countries” such as Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Santo Domingo, etc.

Many of them still have relatives in Spain. But, when they go there to visit their relatives or on vacation they shock, because they suffer from discrimination; they called “Sudacas” (South Americans) and “Mulatos”(mulattos, mixed), in a racist connotation. In spite of the fact that they speak Spanish, have the same religion as Spanish people (Catholic), however, their skins are no longer so clear as their brothers in Spain. Since they’ve mixed with the native indian americans and black people who brought from Africa as slaves. Nevertheless, in America, they call themselves Spanish and considered themselves as white people and discriminate the indigenous Red Indians and black people. In reality, if they go to Sudan, they’ll be called “Khawajat” (white European) by the racist dictator Omar Al-Bashir who call the indigenous Darfurian people “Zourga” (blacks) but he’ll be called “Negro” (black) by the South American people, who suffer from discrimination in Spain.

The Gray Cultural Identity:

There are many Afro-Americans in South America and the Caribbean Islands who still keep their ethnic group intact, they haven’t mixed with any other ethnic groups or at least their appearances look like african people, but, they are no longer speak their african languages, they speak either Spanish, French or English. So, they call themselves “Latinos” and they are not proud of their african origin, except very few of them. Thus, the language is a powerful means to convey cultural values. This is the reason why the majority of the black people in America don’t feel close to Africa and the African people, since their roots has been cut by the slave traders; who imposed their languages, religions and cultural values.

In Sudan, some indigenous people in Darfur and in other parts of the country are no longer speak their native languages, because they born in big cities where the only spoken language is Arabic or their languages have been extinguished like dinosaurs. Now they consider themselves as Arabic, even though their appearances indicate clearly their indigenous origin.

In sum, everybody has the right to be proud of his or her region, religion or ethnic group, but nobody has the right to despise those who don’t belong to his or her ethnic group. I do believe that the Sudanese identity should not be a unique identity that only represents a sector of the society, as today. But, an identity make up of various sub-identies that include all the ethnic groups’ identities and their cultural diversities.
Source: http://www.sudana.net

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