Ignorance and apathy toward the plight of our fellow global citizens is a problem all too common in modern American society. However, an equally pressing issue is that of insensitivity towards the struggles of other community members often demonstrated by privileged members of the Vanderbilt student community. With all due respect, I feel the article “Ignorance of genocide cannot be excused” demonstrated a disturbing lack of understanding of the lives of minimum-wage (or slightly above) workers across the nation and in our Vanderbilt community.

Last Christmas, I was given the wonderful gift of a “Bruegger’s Cup,” which gives me as many free refills of coffee as I like. Thus, I stop by Bruegger’s every day before class without fail. In addition to nursing a growing caffeine dependency, this cup has allowed me to get to know the employees of Bruegger’s on a more personal level. The life of the average worker at a bagel store is drastically different than that of a college student, and these differences need to be taken into account before pigeon holing these hardworking individuals off as ignorant and uncaring. Most of these employees, earning little more than minimum wage, work multiple jobs and an average of 80 hours a week. Between the stresses of raising children, paying bills and simply making it through these tedious and draining days, picking up The New York Times or turning on CNN is left off the to-do list. I complain about having a long day when I have over three hours of class, but when compared to the amount a minimum wage employee must work in order to make ends meet, I realize exactly how much of a brat I sound like.

The media coverage of the situation in Darfur is scarce and brief, making understanding the situation an even more challenging problem. The situation in Darfur is incredibly complex, and I am 100 percent positive many Vanderbilt students would have given similar answers to those of the Brueggers workers if asked to describe it. Not to mention as university students, access to the Internet and a Google search on “Darfur” requires little or no thought and preparation, which is not the case for many Americans who do not own computers or have such unfettered access to them.

I do not write this to excuse a lack of compassion in anyone, but more to point out those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Placing blame for American apathy on these minimum-wage workers is not only unfair, but also classist and elitist. Instead of directing one’s frustration at the lack of awareness about the genocide in Darfur toward others, why not focus on the Vanderbilt undergraduate population? Over 300 people took place in the Walk for Darfur, but a member of STAND, the coordinating group, reported that pathetically few of them were Vanderbilt students. Before lashing out at other members of the community, we should first improve the situation of activism on campus. The opportunities to get involved are endless, and making a personal commitment to taking action and rejecting the status quo will do far more to help the state of affairs than criticizing others.

Anna Elliott
Sophomore, College of Arts and Science