My Reflection on Genocide
Talking about genocide and hearing presentations sparked some interest in me, as I am interested in history, specifically the history of the latter part of the 20th century. Talking about the horrible things people did to each other made me think a little about why people would do this, but often the presentations were only numbers and figures, and the stories and presentations often did not bring home the humanity of those who suffered and died. All too often it was �Seventy-five hundred people died there,� or �Eight hundred thousand people died over this 100 day period,� without a real mental picture of what this might mean. I would calculate that eight thousand people were killed each day for 100 days, but that didn�t really mean anything to me.
The one time in any presentations when I felt the genocide with me was when Brennan talked about the ruthlessness of the Hutu. I distinctly remember him describing grown men hitting children with wooden clubs embedded with glass shards and nails, and flinging babies against walls to kill them. The image of a bloody club and a dead baby lying on the floor haunted me, and made my question why someone would do this.
The horror of genocides and the terrible amount of hate humanity is capable of did not strike me until I saw the movie Hotel Rwanda. The movie helped me begin to see what it would have been like to be a Tutsi in that situation, and just what thousands of dead bodies would look like. I was forced to see! The mental images from the movie brought home the death and violence in ways mere words never could. I began to reflect on the Hutus� reasons for their actions. How could a people do this to another people?
I suppose I can try to liken my conclusion to the knowledge one is fed by his or her society from the very beginning. For those of us in the city of St. Louis, with scientifically knowledgeable parents and great science in school, the Theory of Evolution is a given; many could not even remember a time when they did not know and totally believe in this theory. With our extensive knowledge of DNA and our exposure to the theory throughout our life, it practically proves itself to us. However, I have a friend that attends school near Kingdom City, a small town of a couple thousand on I-70 about 30 minutes east of Columbia. She told me recently of one intelligent girl who adamantly opposes the Theory of Evolution. She cannot comprehend a world with the Theory of Evolution; surely it would contradict Genesis, and therefore God!
In this way, I can see in a small way how many Hutu possibly came to disregard human life so much. Growing up in a society where the Tutsis are considered less than people, it might only make sense to them that the Tutsis must be exterminated. They cannot remember a time when the Tutsis were equal; if they did, they would certainly question their actions. My conclusion of course is based on the fact that genocide cannot randomly happen. I doubt many expect us to wake up tomorrow and find that we have an intense desire to kill all the Asians in our country.
Because of wrongs enacted by the Tutsis against the Hutus in the centuries before the 1955 revolution, when the Hutus finally gained power they must have harbored a deep resentment toward the Tutsis. Rather than shrink, this resentment grew until the Hutus literally thought the Tutsis were less that people. When Tutsis felt they were being treated unfairly, and rightfully rebelled against the Hutu government and created a civil war, tensions only grew, finally giving the Hutus an excuse to start genocide.
While I feel I can somewhat rationalize the actions of the smaller players, the peasants and the farmers affected by the society, and, finally the radio station coordinating attacks, I can barely begin to see what the Hutu leadership thought while building the hatred up to the boiling point.
Maybe a longing for greater power led them to deceive their people. Often through history we have seen leaders allow injustices to occur or even to commit them in the name of power. Each one of us has had an experience like this, albeit on a much smaller scale; should I follow my conscience and tell the kids to stop making fun of him, or should I join in and receive their admiration?
Maybe the leaders or their families were personally harmed by the Tutsis in some way during their rule. A longing for revenge may have led them to take their anger out on a race, rather than individuals.
Either way, I believe the society of Hutus certainly was flawed in the late 20th century, and, while this does not totally explain the 800,000 dead in 100 days, I think it does begin to show why the Hutus acted the way they did. While I was not brought up this way, certainly growing up thinking a whole race is inferior would skew one�s worldview and make one more prone to being involved in genocide-type activity.
In the end, it all comes down to education of conscience. If my society has always told me Tutsis are inferior and they have just killed my leader, why shouldn�t I kill them? Surely this will help, rather than hurt, my society! Not only is our leadership telling us to do it, but my conscience is, and the west isn�t stopping me. My actions must be justified! If someone feels all these things, there is nothing stopping him from killing others. All too often the morality of nations and groups creates the morality of people, and not the other way around (as was said, groups are more likely to commit/go along with evil acts).