Sunday, September 2, 2001, Durban, South Africa -- Nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) continued to be frustrated by the lack of political
will by the government delegations that represent them on the world stage
at the U.N. World Conference against Racism. NGO caucuses revealed that the
European Union was trying to remove language about race from the final
conference document. Similarly, caucus members discussed the Indian
government's claim that there is no concept of race in India and no reason
to discuss caste. One indigenous caucus member shared his frustration that
the word indigenous, while no longer set aside in brackets] was being
placed in inverted commas instead of standing as a separate entity in the
document.

NGOs spent the bulk of the day, devising strategies to lobby their
government ministers and delegates to include language on caste, race and
indigenous issues, among others.

One man's story: A universal tale of race and discrimination

Actor and activist Harry Belafonte spoke to a group of NGO and government
delegates and members of the media in a parallel session held during WCAR
on informal, community-based education for children regardless of race,
ethnic group or class distinctions. He began by telling the group of
listeners that he was born like many of the world's children into an early
life of poverty and racism. He attended underfunded schools where the
teachers and principals, many from outside of his community, made no effort
to hide their low expectations for the children. With no advocate, he was
one of the many children who fell through the "educational cracks."

"My mother was a pseudo-parent," he explained, "since as a domestic
worker, she had to leave her children to play in the streets of Harlem
while she went to work all day." He found learning difficult and never
enjoyed the formal education he received. As a result of this experience,
he never completed high school, dropping out and taking a series of
unfullfilling, low-paying jobs. However, through acting and then activism,
he learned more through informal education than he ever did through the
formal process. Today, thanks to his activism and the work that he has
done through it, he has honorary doctorates and other higher degrees from
some of the finest institutions in the world.

Mr. Belafonte explained, however, that he was one of the luck ones, and the
world community cannot depend on luck to help all of her dispossessed
children. Instead we must look carefully at the way we teach children
through informal ways, including the mass media.

Mr. Belafonte reinforced this message, telling the audience that he
empathized with a comment made by President Fidel Castro of Cuba during the
president's address on opening day of the WACR. "I was struck by Castro's
comment that his first knowledge of Africa was through the Tarzan movies."
Mr. Belafonte said that he also learned about Africa through these movies,
and they contributed to his own self-doubt about his ability to excel in
school. He saw Africa as filled with ignorant people with little language
and no culture. And he saw Tarzan as the great white master, benevolent but
stern with the childlike natives.

He sees the WCAR as a way to begin having the difficult conversations which
can lead to the day when no black child will have to learn about the land
of his forefathers in such a sad, misleading way.

He followed this very personal account by speaking about his great
disappointment with the Bush administration for refusing to send a high
level delegation to the race conference simply because "they did not agree
with some of the agenda." He believes that the administration is making a
huge mistake. But he thanked the many Americans who came to the
conference to work for issues hoped that the Am that we represent becomes
the Am that prevails

"Those of us who have a direct invested interest in this conference are
deeply regretful that he [President George W. Bush] could not have sent a
voice from the United States of America to articulate very clearly and very
precisely what the American point of view is from the government's
perspective on the whole issue of reparations, on the whole issue of the
conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews and the defining of Zionism
as a racist concept, and a lot of other issues that I think are what I call
21st century issues," stated Mr. Belafonte. "And it would have been far
more important, I think, for him to be here, to articulate a point of view
that would have engaged the international debate, and begin to put on the
table some approach to bringing to peace, finally, the issues that are
being raised here.

Speaking more about the issue of reparations for slavery and the slave
trade, the actor and activist said, "I've lived for three-quarters of a
century. I was first called colored and not long after Negro, than black
and most recently African-American. Each time we get somewhat closer to
validation. The discussion on reparations is very much in order but we must
discuss reparations for whom and in what form. There is nothing at this
meeting that should not have been debated. Because we must discuss these
issues among ourselves as they have been discussed for a long time by our
tormenters."

Mr. Belafonte concluded the session on informal education of children by
saying that as adults we have the moral right to make sure that we do not
abandon our responsibility to make sure our children inherit a world in
which each child has an equal opportunity to learn as much as he or she can
in every constructive way possible.

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