The Bushmen of Southern Africa:
The Bushmen of Southern Africa are indigenous people who have lived in countries such as Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Angola for thousands
of years. They live off of the land and
the game that roams on their land.
However, in the early 1980’s there were diamonds discovered on the
Bushmen’s reserve. After the diamonds
were found, they were told to leave the reserve by the government.
In
1997, 2002, and 2005 all of the Bushmen were forced to leave. In the three clearances their homes, school,
and health center were all destroyed. The water supply on the reserve was used
up, and the Bushmen were trucked away from the only home they’d ever
known.
Currently,
many of the Bushmen live outside of the reserve in resettlement camps. They are rarely able to hunt without being
arrested or beaten for doing so. In
addition, many now have illnesses due to their relocation. The illnesses include, but are not limited to
depression, alcoholism, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. The Bushmen must now depend on the handouts
that the government gives them; this way of life will ruin the unique
traditions and their way of life will soon be extinct.
However,
in 2006 the Bushmen won their right in court to return to their lands. The government continues to block their
return by doing things like banning them from using a water borehole – which
the Bushmen used before they were kicked out.
Now without the borehole, the Bushmen struggle to find water to survive
on the lands that their ancestors have lived on for hundreds of years.
The
Bushmen story continues in 2011 with further litigation against the government
to gain access to the water borehole.
The Bushmen’s application was initially dismissed, but in January of
2011 the Botswana’s Court of Appeal ruled that the Bushmen might now use the
old water borehole. In addition to the
use of the old borehole, they are also allowed to make new watering holes on
the reserve. The judges explained the
Bushmen’s case as “a harrowing story of human suffering and despair.”
Another
way the government has tried to block the Bushmen from moving back to their
land is by making new boreholes that are only for wildlife. In addition to the wildlife boreholes, the
government also allowed a safari company, Wilderness Safaris, to open a tourist
camp in the reserve.
Not
only have they allowed the safari tours and the water borehole to be blocked,
the government has done more things to hurt the Bushmen. They have refused to allow the Bushmen to
hunt on their own land. As a result of
this, they have arrested more than 50 Bushmen for hunting in order to feed
their families, and they have banned them from taking their small herds of
goats back to the reserve.
The
government not only has mistreated this group of people, but they still have
not taken responsibility for their wrong actions. They continue to abuse their rights and block
the Bushmen from living on their ancestral land. I feel that this is a clear case of
environmental justice. The government
and diamond industry has abused this group of people and abused the land that
they have lived on for so many years.
An
Inconvenient Truth:
An Inconvenient Truth was
a great movie to watch to supplement the environmental justice topic. I thought that the issues it brought up were
specifically related to environmental issues and the issues of moderation. Also, the research and scientific proof it
brought to the table was a great addition for the viewers to learn about. However, I feel that this movie was a bit
dry. Part of the reason for this is
because I am not that passionate about environmental justice. Additionally, I did not enjoy the format of
the movie. I thought that it was too
much of listening to Al Gore speak rather than videos of the environment and
the issues that were brought up.
Overall, this was a good complementary movie though.
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