Ethnic Identity in Darfur
Subject: Background Material to Understand the Genocide in the Region
Reading Level: Adult / High School
Overview
Given the claims of genocide in Darfur, it is incredibly important to understand what these groupings are and what they represent to the people who constitute them. Is there indeed mobilization along ethnic, religious, racial and/or tribal lines? If so, how did these groups form? How have context and circumstance contributed to their existence? In Darfur, exploration of these categories reveals a highly complex ethnic mosaic where identities overlap yet behavior is considered as though each group were discrete and separate. (Figure 16) How this false identification evolved and persists is the work of political manipulation and has resulted in the horrific situation that now confronts the people of Darfur.