Blood Diamonds

Although diamonds often represent marriage, beauty, and romance, the process of getting these diamonds have been heart wrenching. Between the billions of people killed by the rebels wanting control over the diamonds, and the erosion which has caused damage to the ecosystem by the mining, South Africa was forced into a Civil War. Before the issue was announced, we were unknowingly contributing to the Blood Diamonds by purchasing these conflict diamonds. With the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, we have been able to slow down the blood diamonds from getting to the markets, and the militants are unable to get the money they were getting. Although some people are sneaking around the system and getting the conflict diamonds in the market, we have made a great indention in their profit, but we need to follow stricter guidelines keep these blood diamonds from being purchased. In 1867, a diamond was discovered in South Africa, which led to the first diamond mine, established by De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. By the end of the century, De Beers was supplying an estimated 90 percent of the world’s diamonds. (Driscoll, Sally; English, Marlanda) Although the diamond business was flourishing, De Beers knew he could make a more bountiful profit if he portrayed the diamonds as a rare object of beauty. When diamond mining began in South Africa, it brought international commerce and tourism, which the country had not experienced before.(Whittacker, Anne; Grant, Richard A.) To give these diamonds a glamorous status, Hollywood actresses were given diamond studded jewelry to show off. (Driscoll, Sally; English, Marlanda) In 1947, an advertising copywriter coined the phrase, "A diamond is forever," and within a few years, 75 percent of all marriage engagements involved a diamond ring. With diamonds being in such high demand, the United States decided they needed a more economical friendly diamond for jewelry consumers, therefor the United States scientists created a

Cited: **Driscoll, Sally, and Marlanda English. “Diamond Mining: An Overview.” Points of View Reference Center. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. **Silverstein, Ken. “Diamonds of Death.” Points of View Reference Center.Web. 6 Nov. 2012 *Healey, Christina. “Sierra Leone.” Our World: Sierra Leone. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. *Whittacker, Anne, and Richard A. Grant. “Point: Diamond Mining is the Answer to Africa 's Problems.” **Allen, Aoife. “Kimberley Process 'whitewashes ' blood diamonds.” New Internationalist. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 8 Nov. 2012.