All of you who read this column a couple weeks ago remember when Fr. Roy Bourgeois came to campus to speak about his fight against the School of the Americas. I was lucky enough to get to sit down with him for a few hours prior to that speech. We talked about a number of things: how he ended up on this life path, whether he was a baseball fan, all that important stuff. But possibly the most relevant question concerned what all of us who have learned to dislike the SOA are supposed to do when it is closed down.
This sparked a long explanation of how the SOA is only a part of a system that has kept millions destitute and starving. He told me that the way it works now, we are, “keep[ing] the poor enslaved.” He is currently working with funding from Jesuit universities and the Maryknoll Order to make a new documentary linking the SOA to the sweatshop issue and the plights of people around the world. So I decided to see how SLU was responding to the issues that are next on this movements agenda. What I found was the grassroots efforts of some exciting groups.
Amnesty International at SLU
Amnesty International is the most recognized organization working for human rights. The issues it most often deals with include opposition to capital punishment, equal treatment of women, freeing of political prisoners, freedom of Tibet and support of worker’s rights internationally. This group does everything from writing letters to holding protests. At weekly meetings, members are informed about events that are taking place across campus and across St. Louis.
The group has chosen to take on a number of challenges. The most ambitious is a campaign against Shell Oil. Shell has long been involved with the Nigerian government, and has been trying to tap the oil reserves located in a region of the country that belongs to the Ogoni people. In the past, Shell has harvested the oil without concern for the Nigerian environment or for the livelihood of the people. Oil lines were laid straight through villages and farm fields. The frequent ruptures made the soil infertile and drinking water poisonous. The people no longer had any way to sustain themselves, and therefore revolted. They succeeded in blocking Shell oil harvests, but were severely oppressed by the corrupt Nigerian government. The military regime destroyed villages, massacred civilians, and executed movement leaders.
Shell continues relations with the Nigerian government in hope that the unrest will be calmed enough for the company to return to production. The Ogoni people are still without farmland or water sources. To work with this project or a number of others, attend the AI meetings on Mondays at 8 p.m.
United Students Against Sweatshops
The group is just in its beginning stages, but may revolutionize the University before it’s finished. Despite a trip to the big dance last month, it is still pretty difficult to find Saint Louis University licensed apparel anywhere other than our University bookstore, where school pride is sold for unchallenged high prices. While we pay out the wazoo for a Billiken cap or a sweatshirt for mom or dad, untold hundreds of workers are literally unable to eat from the wages that they are being paid to make those same sweatshirts. I know that this isn’t new to anybody. I am sure that most of you have heard about the problem of sweatshops, and either said, “Wow, that is really bad, somebody should do something about that.” Or maybe you’ve started to think like most of us and decided it is simply too big to destroy with a little protest. But here we face a special situation, and one that is rectifiable.
After a simple look around the bookstore, SLU’s USAS Co-organizer Eric Sears determined that most of our SLU apparel is probably made under sweatshop conditions. Should we buy that stuff? “No, probably not,” you say. But, as of right now, we don’t have a choice. SLU’s chapter of USAS is working to join a number of universities including all of the California public colleges, Brown University, Northwestern University, Georgetown, College of the Holy Cross, Wheeling Jesuit, Loyola University of Chicago, and Loyola University-New Orleans to work with their administrations to keep their sports teams and pride apparel free of implications to such inhuman policies.
For information, contact Eric Sears at 977-4721, or begin attending meetings on Wednesdays from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. The fight is not going to be as easy as it may sound. But we, the students, have demonstrated our ability to apply pressure on the administration in order to do what we think is right. Now is a good time to start that again. Hopefully, we can work together with our leaders to encourage ethical business practices both in and outside our borders.
