The weapon of race and the power of shame: Speaking out against the violence in Sudan

There are many explanations for the ongoing violence in Sudan. Racialized tensions, religion, colonialism, and oil are often cited as causing what are now several conflicts in the country. Drawing on qualitative research with the Washington, D.C. Sudanese diaspora, I explore the role that racial categorization and cultural identity struggles have played in the violence. Through interviews and group conversations, the notion of racialized identity emerged as an important political and economic concept that has been used by those within positions of privilege and power in the Khartoum government. The government of Sudan, headed by Omar al-Bashir, claims Sudan is an Arab nation, comprised of Arab-Islamic individuals. Many of those who reject the positions of the government---the privileging of the Arab-Islamic identity---do not place great importance on a racialized identity. However, these same individuals believe that claiming any other identity in Sudan, besides Arab-Islamic, subjects them to the program of violence and marginalization by the Sudanese government. Bashir's project of forced assimilation of those labeled as non-Arab Sudanese has resulted in widespread violence, rape and displacement. My interviewees from the Washington, D.C. Sudanese community discussed the dichotomies created within the conflicts of Sudan, the role of race and the experiences of violence and shame. From this information, along with knowledge from scholarly texts, I conclude race is not the main cause of the conflicts in Sudan, but is a weapon for the exclusionary access to power, wealth and resources within the country.