You know what? I'm mad. Mad at the world. The western world, to be more specific. The damn Europeans started it and ruined everything. Before I start off on my rant, let me explain where I'm coming from. It seems that my crappy Cultural Studies class can be good for something. I learned (actually, it was a research project, so more specifically, my partner and I learned on our own). This entry will focus on the injustices that happen in the world, more specifically, the genocide in Rwanda. Happy Valentine's Day, by the way.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, genocide is "the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race." In the 20th century, there were several cases of genocide. For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, crawl out from under your rock and do some research. NOW. It is important for the world to be aware of the atrocities that have happened and the atrocities that still happen today.

In Rwanda, Africa, the conflict was between two groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis. No one knows the origin of the words, which are used to describe the two classes. Before the colonists came, Rwanda's society resembled Europe's old feudal societies; the "Tutsis" (the minority) where wealthy cattle owners while the "Hutus" (the majority) were farmers.

When the Europeans came in mid-1800s, they created a division by assuming there was a difference between the two classes but in reality, there was no difference in ethnicity. It was actually the Belgians who started it when they took over Rwanda as a Trust Territory in 1916. They called the "whiter" (or more "European") people "Tutsis" and the darker-skinned people "Hutus." Every Rwandan was given an identity card stating with "ethnic group" they were from.

A quote from the movie Hotel Rwanda (excellent movie, go watch it!) sums this up: "Well... According to the Belgian colonists, Tutsis are taller, more elegant. It was the Belgians that created the division. They picked people; those with thinner noses, lighter skin... they even used to measure people's noses. The Belgians used the Tutsis to run the country. Then when they left, they left the power to the Hutus. And the Hutus took revenge on the Tutsis for years of oppression."

Do you see the problem here? There was no difference to begin with! Only the stupidity of Belgians is to blame. The Belgians relied on Tutsis to govern so they were given superior, higher-paying government jobs and positions.

Fast-forward to 1959 when the Tutsi King Muratara III died and the Hutus claimed that the successor, Kigeri V, was chosen inappropriately. Fighting erupted and the Hutus won, resulting in thousands of Tutsis fleeing the country. This left the Hutus in power when Rwanda gained independence on July 1, 1962.

The killing of Tutsis continued to occur, until finally, the situation got really bad in the 1990s. Exiled Tutsis in the Rwandan Patriotic Front attacked from Ugandan bases using guerrilla warfare. The Hutus used this as a justification for large-scale killings of innocent Tutsis. The killings were carried out by militias and death squads, originally organized as "youth wings" of Hutu political parties.

Meanwhile, the president Habyarimana and the government stirred up racist feelings against the Tutsi. Creating death lists and identifying targets was easy because of the ethnic ID cards (introduced by Belgians). Additionally, the Radio des Mille Collines (A Thousand Hills) was set up by the Hutu government to broadcast racist propaganda. Radio broadcasts by Hutu leaders were used to increase hatred for the Tutsis.

On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana was killed in a suspicious plane crash. Tutsi rebels were blamed, but many analysts think his plane shot down by Hutus who were opposed the power-sharing plan that was going to be implemented with the Tutsis. As soon as Habyarimana's death was announced, the militias began killing immediately. This started what became known as the "100 Days of Violence" which was a systematic massacre of more than 800,000 Tutsis (and some moderate Hutus) between April and July, 1994.

Rwanda had "a rate of killing that was five times faster than the Nazis' industrial methods during World War II." 6-11% of Rwanda's population was killed in a two month period. Compare that to France and Germany who only lost 1.5% and 5.3% over several years of fighting. Violent methods were used to kill people – they were slaughtered in the streets by Hutus armed with machetes and guns.

In conclusion, over the course of 3 months, 6 people were murdered every 60 seconds and an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed total. More than 1 million refugees were forced to flee and are still displaced to this day. There are more than 60,000 widows and more than 200,000 orphans in Rwanda. Sounds bad, right? Here's more:

Approximately 535,000 women were victims of an organized rape campaign. This means that 4 women were violently sexually assaulted every minute, mostly by HIV-positive men. More than 67% (two-thirds!) of women who were raped are now dying from AIDS and there are at least 500,000 people in Rwanda living with HIV. Can you believe this? It's true.

So where was the world when this was happening? It's pretty hard to ignore people dying every minute. Somehow, the international community was able to ignore it. The first action the U.N. took was to reduce the number of UNAMIR peacekeeping forces (United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda, sent there in 1993) from 2500 to 270.

Four weeks later, the number was increased to 5500 but that did not prevent more deaths because they were only allowed to use "self-defense." Another Hotel Rwanda quote: "we're peacekeepers, not peacemakers." Later, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to abandon Rwanda and the rest of the peacekeeping troops were evacuated. Now, how is that supposed to prevent slaughter?

You know what really pisses me off? The U.N. and the U.S.A. avoided calling the massacres "genocide" to prevent an emergency intervention and to not alarm the public. Well you know what? The public needs to know! People were dying. Blood was EVERYWHERE. The U.S. government refused to act and blocked a vote on a U.N. resolution to deploy more troops to Rwanda to protect refugees and aid workers. Stupid move. More people died as a result. If the international community had intervened, tens of thousands of lives would have been saved. The only action taken was to remove all foreigners from Rwanda, leaving the Rwandans to fend for themselves.

This whole mess was started by the Europeans and their imperialist crap. During the Age of Imperialism, Europe exerted its force over the whole world. Africa, the Americas, Australia, Asia, EVERYWHERE. For instance, look at Great Britain. Its goal was to "paint the world red," a euphemism for "control the world through colonies and such." India, Australia, Hong Kong, and America. Did I miss some? Oh yeah, parts of Africa, too. The other European nations weren't any better. King Leopold of Belgium practically killed Congo before others made him stop. When the Europeans left, they left a mess behind. A HUGE mess. Take a look at the world today. It's not getting any better.

We are now in the 21st century. Genocide still occurs today. There are still issues in Africa. A well-known case is in Sudan, the Darfur region. If you look at world history, it's littered with genocide. Even the United States is guilty of it. Look at the time of the "manifest destiny." Native Americans were driven from their homes and "relocated" or slaughtered. The Trail of Tears was only one event in the whole movement. Remember the Wild West? Shooting "Indians" and taking their land? The U.S. is no better than a big bully. If you look at the world now, the U.S. is still a bully that throws its weight around to get its way. When the going gets tough, the U.S. pulls out and leaves a mess behind, just like the Europeans did in Africa. Iraq won't end well. I can feel it. Just look at Somalia.

So what are your thoughts on this? Serious, no? The human race is slowly destroying the Earth with its stupid antics. Enough depression for now. Anyway...

The weather where I live is crazy. We had an early dismissal from school on Tuesday but it barely snowed. However, it started pouring the "wintery mix" stuff where it's all freezing rain and whatnot. We ended up having no school yesterday and now we have a 4-day weekend. I find it ironic that we had snow days during Valentine's Day week last year too. Whee!

Leave some love (and comments)!