‘IT’S SAD THAT THEY’RE UNKNOWN’
Amy Passaretti
The Breeze
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Ap ril 23 2009
HARRISONBURG, Va. — They were human bones with clothes still attached
to them after 10 years; bones of the more than one million lives
taken in cold blood.
Lane Montgomery saw these lasting reminders of a genocide that happened
during the lifetimes of current college students. It was a harrowing
site for the photographer, despite knowing the history before arriving
in Rwanda in 2004.
"It was a terrible shock," Montgomery said. "I didn’t realize how
ignorant I was."
But count this as just one of the many experiences the photographer
and author of "Never Again, Again, Again" has encountered throughout
her years of work in genocide awareness.
Montgomery spoke Monday night to a group of about 25 students
concerning six of the world’s largest genocides, starting with Armenia
in 1914 and ending with the ongoing massacre in Sudan’s western region
of Darfur.
"I think it’ll be your generation that’s going to have some sway in
the issue," Montgomery said. "It’s going back to a period that’s more
like the ’70s where young people are less aware of making $3 million
working on Wall Street, and you know, they’re doing some good."
Ali Shah was particularly impacted by the presentation and kissed
Montgomery’s hand before speaking of how impressed and touched he
was by the work she’s doing.
"She’s doing something great for humanity," said Shah, a junior
transfer student from Pakistan. "We are all creations of God… it’s
pretty hurting when young people are dying. There’s cruelty all
over. It’s hurting."
Other students enjoyed the presentation as well, and feel there is
not enough awareness around JMU’s campus on issues such as genocide.
"I didn’t know much about all of them; it’s sad that they’re unknown,"
said Julia Childers, a sophomore and health sciences major.
Sophomore Jenna Cohn, treasurer of Jewish organization Hillel,
feels there wasn’t a big turnout because people are "sheltered" and
"so focused on their own lives" that they don’t make the effort to
learn about world issues.
Prevention
Montgomery emphasized action at the first sign of genocide within
a country, through diplomatic response. She proposes, in her book,
creating a genocide international prevention corps of as many countries
as possible to be located in the European Union with easy access to
places such as Africa.
"We have to stop it before it starts," Montgomery said. "Once heads
are rolling there’s not much we can do."
Montgomery defined genocide as not concerning faith and prayer, but
about the four ‘Ps’: power, politics, property and perpetration. She
also said it’s a planned thing and isn’t stopped until a set number
of people are killed by those intending to murder.
"Never Again, Again, Again" contains pictures she took in various
countries involved in genocides and also contains archived pictures
of past events she was not there to capture.
The photographs range from starving children in Armenia, dead bodies
being pulled on sleds from the Holocaust, children staring into fields
of human skulls in Cambodia and a picture of a Janjaweed in Darfur. (A
Janjaweed is a person paid by the government to kill people.)
"It’s a different perspective than a student’s because of her
experience," said Beth Mannella, a freshman finance major and
membership chair for Hillel. "She’s seen it first hand; been there,
done it."
EARLY AWARENESS
Montgomery’s interest in human rights stems from her childhood as
a Caucasian who grew up in the small town of Kinston, N.C., where
immigration and segregation were prevalent. Her father was a strong
advocate of black rights and some of her most vivid, earliest memories
involve what she witnessed as a result.
One anecdote Montgomery recalled was when she was about 5 years old
in a store where a black man was handling merchandise. A white sales
woman proceeded to slap his hands and Montgomery went crying to her
father, who reprimanded the woman and got her fired. She said that
her father told the sales woman, "My children are not gonna be brought
up that way."
This was only about the third time Montgomery has spoken to a college
student audience and she hopes to have her book published by University
Press at a cheaper price for students to buy.
Sophomore Anna Owens, an anthropology major, feels that college
students are probably more aware than other people since they "tend
to get more passionate about issues" and there are more diverse crowds
to share ideas.
Holocaust Remembrance Week also included a Tuesday showing of the
documentary "Paperclips," about a middle school class that attempts
to collect six million paperclips to illustrate the six million Jews
killed in the Holocaust. This was followed by a discussion led by
Kevin Apple, a JMU psychology professor. The week concludes today
with Holocaust survivor Jay Ipson, 74, speaking about his experience,
at 7 p.m. in Festival Ballroom.
Cohn said that when a survivor spoke last year, audience members
filled all the seats in Health and Human Services lecture room and
even filled the steps.
"We’re the last generation to be able to hear them," Cohn said. "If
people realize the impact they have, they’ll come."
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