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Rwanda Genocide Essay

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Introduction
For centuries, various underlying and most often than not, petty issues have led to differences between nations and most importantly between its people. As a result of these disputes, divisions have been established consciously and unconsciously between people of the same and different race. All these issues are the reasons for economic inequalities between people.

History
For many years, power struggles between individuals from the same background and of different social standings have led economic inequalities among themselves. More often than not, these disputes have caused rivalries amid them. These disputes have even led to the mass killings of minorities and the “less important” in the sight of the majority and “more important”. …show more content…

In the year 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority murdered as many as 800,000 people mainly of the Tutsi minority, between the months of April and July. The main reason for this very unfortunate genocide was the fact before Rwanda became an independent nation; the Belgian colonial rulers favored the Tutsi minority over the Hutu majority, fanning the flame of oppression of the many by the few. Henceforth, resulting in a legacy of tension between the two groups that began the genocide. After the gruesome slaughter of many in Rwanda, some form of equity was established by placing an individual from both the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups in positions of authority; a wise step in appeasing the desires of both ethnic groups.
Another aspect that led to economic inequity is race. What is race? According to oxford dictionaries, race is “each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics: people of all races, colors, and creeds.” The issue of race has for centuries been one of the most outstanding factors affecting equity among people. For example, in Nazi occupied Germany where Jews and other minorities were seen as an inferior race and the Germans seen as a superior race. The hatred of these races led to the mass murder of over 6 million Jews, often referred to as the

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This deepened Ethnic tensions between the Hutus and the Tutsis because the Tutsis were the privileged minority and received benefits such as western education from Belgian rule while the Hutus were enslaved and treated with little to no respect. According to Laura the granddaughter of Hutus the Belgians divided the Hutus and the Tutsis further by using ‘scientific racism’ like saying that the Tutsis were taller and therefore better. This planted the seeds for the Rwandan Genocide because the Belgians created a distinct separation between the two

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Chapter Nine Summary Chapter Nine discusses the topic of global stratification; what is is and how it affects nations, global poverty, and modernization. Global stratification is the way that wealth is unfair distribution of power, wealth, and prestige in society. This causes people to have very different lifestyles, some will have much more comfortable lifestyles than others. For instance, I volunteer with some of the kids in this neighborhood, it is amazing how different their lifestyle is compared to the way I grew up. Most of them come from a single parent household and have had someone close to them either arrested or got into serious trouble.

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Tutsi people regard the Hutus who have been released from the Gacaca Courts, despite carrying out the decided punishment, as being “killers”. Thus, from a justice point of view, the reconciliation efforts are unsuccessful. This feeling of betrayal by the justice system also fosters a sense of paranoia in the Tutsi community as they will not know if the Hutu community will strike again. This ultimately affects the peace and healing process in Rwanda as victims cannot forget the crimes committed against

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Genocide regularly happens while different nations refuse to be included to the extent of denying their presence. Refusing to acknowledge such tragedy assists in helping to avoid taking on responsibility. The scariest passage in Gourevitch interpretation of the Rwandan genocide is the conversation he has with an American military intelligence officer in Rwanda. The officer’s remarks can be concluded to Americans thoughts on their lack of involvement and denial in Rwanda: Gourevitch use of simile informs the reader of the Americans view towards genocide; a sandwich. He is belittling the genocide, taking away the emotion from it all.

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In April of 1994, the group of Rwandans which identified themselves as Hutu began brutal attacks against the other group within Rwanda, the Tutsis. Until the end of this genocide, in July of 1994, the Hutus murdered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis, and some moderate Hutus. This humanitarian crisis gained global attention, but nothing was done to stop it, and condemn it. This crisis has also had a lasting impact on how those who did not act are perceived, and how they will continue to be perceived around the world. The U.S. should have intervened in the Rwandan genocide to stop the murders of the hundreds of thousands of innocent people, as well as to demonstrate that attacks like this are impermissible and immoral, and lastly because the genocide has had a lasting impact on the people of Rwanda and how America and the UN is viewed.

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22 years ago Rwanda suffered from a genocide, we believe that these people are still suffering emotionally. Despite the fact that this genocide happened years ago, there are still traces of hurt and hardship. Imagine for a moment that during the time of the genocide you were five and your parents were killed right in front of your eyes. It’s been 2 decades, and you are now 27, would you have forgotten about your parents deaths? No, something as traumatic as that will not have just left your mind.

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Assignment 1: The Rwandan Genocide In the recent discussion of genocides, a controversial issue has been whether the Rwandan genocide was local or nation participation of citizens that contributed to the genocide. On the one hand, some would argue that macro (nation) level was a significant factor in the Rwandan genocide against Tutsis. From this perspective, the humanitarian community felt it was the government 's exclusionary ideology which, led to the mass killings of one million Tutsis residents. On the other hand, however, others argue that a micro level used by the (local) Hutu communities organized and played a vital role in these mass extermination of their fellow citizens.

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Hutu forces believed that it was Tutsis who shot down the plane and immediately responded with extreme violence against them, this event marking the start of the Rwandan genocide on April 6, 1994(Rwandan Genocide: Overview). The first victims to be targeted by the killers were Hutu political leaders who supported the RPF, then all Tutsi political leaders. Although it was a difficult undertaking, the sheer determination of the hateful militia allowed them to set up roadblocks and checkpoints that helped them to identify Tutsi and irradicate them with greater efficiency than ever before in history. In the first 3 weeks of the unhindered massacre, an estimated 20,000 were killed in Kigali and the regions that surround it. Since the killers were average citizens, their militia carried out most of the killing using knives, machetes, and clubs, targeting Tutsi everywhere, in their homes, in churches, and out in the streets.

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The Rwandan Genocide was a period of mass slaughter of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda in 1994 by the Hutu majority. Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days. Political, economic and social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu increased animosity between these two Rwandan tribes proceeding the partition of Africa in the 19th century. However, the murder of President Habyarimana was the spark that ignited widespread genocide in Rwanda. This investigation will explore the extent to which the murder of President Habyarimana caused the Rwandan Genocide.

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The UN stated that a process of 8 stages has to occur in order for a situation to be considered a genocide. Step 1 is classification; the creating of the feeling of “us vs them”, in the early 1900s during Rwanda’s colonial times the country was under the rule of Belgium. At this time, Belgium created an impression of “us vs them” amongst the Rwandan people as the Belgians viewed the Tutsi’s as superior to the Hutu as the Belgians referred to the Tutsi’s as ‘more European,’ granting Tutsi people better education, and jobs, even though the Hutu’s were the majority in the country. Identity cards were given out to citizens stating whether they were Tutsi, Hutu or Twa this was banned for some time until it was once again incorporated before and during the Rwanda mass murders. Step 2 is symbolization; Before the mass murders occurred the words Tutsi and Hutu were banned in both Rwanda and Burundi as they were considered to be hate words but were simply replaced by other words until they were finally used again in the mass murders and are still used today.

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In 1994, a small country known as Rwanda, located in Africa, was devastated by a mass genocide over a short span of time. This tragedy between the Hutus and the Tutsis occurred over a span of 100 days and had 800 000 to 1 000 000 fatalities. Although small in comparison to other genocides such as the holocaust, the damage, emotionally and physically, was certain. The two populations, the Hutus and the Tutsis had major conflict in previous years, this eventually built up, thus resulting in the Hutu people to enforce mass murder on the Tutsis. Over the years there is and was great controversy as to what the main motivation of the Hutu people was to start the genocide.

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