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Rosie Lazcano
English 111
Pf. Schamp
April 2016
The Boycott of Diamonds Worldwide
An estimated $13 billion worth of rough diamonds are produced per
year, of which approximately $8.5 billion are from Africa (approximately
65%). The diamond industry employs approximately ten million people
around the world. (Royal Society) Diamonds are used all over the world as a
significance of love, wealth, and purity. Yet, the sick twisted reality of it is
that those diamonds signify pain, hatred, and death. Society is so obsessed
with living vicariously through riches, like diamonds, that they loose
themselves and the true importance of humanity and lifes worth.
Diamonds have to be boycotted completely and we need to find an
alternative, in hopes that it will stop the illicit diamond trade. Conflict
diamonds came to the attention of the world's media in the late 1990s
during the extremely brutal conflict in Sierra Leone. (Bertoni) and has
affected 3 million lives since then. It began by the rebels trying to overthrow
the government and in the process they became the monsters. Today those
rebels are to blame for many deaths in Africa. Families are being broken,
woman and children are being raped raped, the rebels are making young
children work, and the rebels proceed to amputated people if they do not

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cooperate with the demands. (Lazcano) The rebels hurt and kill their own
innocent people without pity so that first world countries could live in riches.
Steps were taken as the world became aware of the blood being shed
because of diamonds. The Kimberley Process was passed in January 2003 so
that buyers could know the source of their diamonds and so that conflict
diamonds wouldnt be smuggled into the business. The Kimberley Process is
a certification system that prevents conflict diamonds from entering the
legitimate diamond supply chain. The Kimberley Process ensures that only
rough diamonds accompanied by a government-issued certificate can be
imported and exported, providing an assurance that the diamonds are from
sources free from conflict. (Bertoni) This process was created as a solution
to blood diamonds yet it does not work. The Kimberley Process has flaws,
therefore, in the long run it does not solve the whole problem let alone half
of the problem. It is useless because conflict diamonds are still being
smuggled and the flaws in the system are being ignored. More dramatic
steps have to be taken to be able to fully stop blood diamonds because the
Kimberley Process is not living up to the high standards it should be.
Boycotting diamonds will not be easy but it is the best possible solution
to fully and completely stop the illicit diamond trade. It can not be done in a
day and that is why we need to start with baby steps and then after fixing
the flaws move on to fully boycotting diamonds if the blood shed still
continues. A small step ending the illicit diamond trade is by first fixing the
flaws in the Kimberley Process. We should enforce all jewelry sellers to

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legally be forced to tell buyers the sources of the diamonds and if it is
unknown or not. Also if there is a small possibility that it could be a blood
diamond, sellers should require buyers to sign a paper that says they are
aware to their possible contribution to the illicit diamond trade. Also, sellers
should be requiring to give buyers a brief explanation of the illicit diamond
trade going on in Africa even if their diamonds are not blood diamonds, this
will help spread the awareness of the problem and buyers could think of
alternatives or ways to help the situation.
Another solution to stop the illicit diamond trade is to find an alternative.
People use diamonds as a sign of love, such as marriage or promise rings or
even gifts for special events. Yet, what if there was an alternative? Instead of
diamond rings sellers could stop selling diamonds on jewelry and they could
sell different crystals or pearls instead. If buyers insist in diamonds, there is
alternatives such as only selling lab created diamonds instead. Diamonds are
used to show wealth but theres alternatives to show off wealth such as gold,
cars, clothes, etc. Celebrities are infamous for their love in riches and
showing off their money through what they own. Celebrities also have such a
huge power when it comes to fans, if a big celebrity creates a trend their
fans will follow. That is why celebrities should start a trend of alternatives to
diamonds. Celebrities, such as Kanye West and Leonardo DiCaprio, have
brought awareness to this situation through music and films.
Kanye West released a music video called Diamonds from Sierra Leon
in 2005, it was politics and art tied into one. Kanye showed in his music

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video child labor and the pain caused through purchases of diamonds,
he also demonstrated being a savior to the children working on getting
diamonds. He emphasized at the end of his music video to only buy
conflict free diamonds. He hoped to get through to fans about his views
on opposing diamond sales. The power of a celebrity is so strong in
todays society because anything a celebrity says, their die-hard fans
will follow. West took this to advantage knowing they would follow and
stand by him in helping all those suffering because of the illicit
diamond trade. On December 8, 2006 a movie called Blood Diamonds
was released into theaters worldwide, staring dearly beloved Leonardo
DIcaprio and Djimon Hounsou. The movie took place in Sierra Leon and
followed a journalist investigating the illicit diamond trade and a man
whose family was taken from by rebels. They adventure in recovering a
precious gem that was found by Hounsous character and worth a
fortune and to find the mans family. This movie gave an insight of
what Sierra Leon is truly like and many movie goers felt the pain as
they saw the illicit diamond trade first-handed. The film left diamond
sellers anxious as to how it would negatively affect their sales.
Although the movie did slight affect diamond sales and made
audiences aware of the illicit diamond trade it did not completely stop
it. (Lazcano)
These celebrities both focused on the illicit diamond trade and brought a lot
of attention to the situation. Buyers feared diamond sells would drop if fans

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stood by these celebrities. If these celebrities and more were to reinforce the
importance of not buying illicit diamonds and speak about alternative their
strong power could move other celebrities and fans to boycott diamonds.
The final solution in solving the illicit diamond trade is to fully boycott
all sales of diamonds. If we stop buying all diamonds, there will be no reason
for families to be suffering in Africa. If we do not buy diamonds then the
rebels have no diamonds to sell, therefore, the problem of illicit diamonds
will be solved. This will affect many people negatively due to all the billions
being lost within this industry but it is not about the money. Not everything
should be about money, this is about all the human lives that will be saved
and all the suffering that will be stopped. Society is so wrapped around the
idea of luxury and wanting to be on top that they loose their humanity.
People need to stick together and protect one another, diamonds are just
materialistic items but human live is so much more important.
Although I believe boycotting diamonds will solve the illicit diamond
trade it is nearly impossible to convince billions of lives to stop buying such
beautiful luxuries. Diamonds have been around for long in representing love
and riches, making such a high demanding item disappear is not possible.
Small steps can be taken to help the problem but it will never fully go away,
lives will still be lost and the lives that have been lost cannot be ignored.
All the lives that have been lost and affected will be paid respect to
vicariously if we take small steps to stop the illicit diamond trade, we can
start with making the world aware of this problem and after those with good

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hearts will take steps to helping those suffering in Africa. With
acknowledgement of the problem solutions can follow.
The truth behind diamonds is that they represent torture, pain, and
death. These blood diamonds are covered by brainwashing society to think
they only represent love, passion, and wealth. In reality, we need to expose
the truth behind illicit diamonds and go on to stop buying diamonds all
together to bring humanity to peace one step at a time.

Work Cited
Bertoni, Alessandro. "Diamond Facts." Diamond Facts Q & A. MDBC, n.d.
Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Allen, Aoife. Kimberley Process whitewashes Blood Diamonds. New
Internationalist. April
2012. Web. April 2016
Contreras, Joseph. The Lure of Diamonds. Newsweek. Vol. 120, Issue 19.
November 1992. Web.
April 2016

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Robinson, Simon. Ressner, Jeffrey. Hollywood Plays Rough with Diamonds.
Times. Vol. 168
November 2006. Web, April 2016.
"SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMOND MINING INDUSTRY." Journal of the Royal Society
of Arts 70.3624 (1922): 441-42. Web. 3 May 2016.