As I look back and reflect on my last post and try to think about everything, I wanted to pose a few questions and make a few points...
First, it is important to remember that genocide is a phenomenon not unique to Rwanda or Africa. Remember that similar genocides, often with more casualties, have occured on nearly every continent on earth. Genocide has occured in Germany/Poland, Armenia, the Americas, Russia, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Namibia, and possibly Hiroshima/Nagasaki (not technically, but I think it could qualify). It's spread all over the world.
Genocide is not something that is spontaneous, not something that can occur without extensive planning and preparation, and it can generally not occur without a strong central government overseeing and perpetrating the killings. The case of Rwanda is not a "triabl" conflict as many suggest and would like to believe. To think of it as "tribal" is frankly ignorant and ignores the root causes of this particular genocide. The two groups in conflict in Rwanda were constructed by early Belgian colonialists to use for their colonial purposes. These are not thought two be historically two distinct groups of people that have long been embroiled in hate and war, they are the same people. It is also important to remember the role the west and western economics has played in this genocide. The coffee price collapse in 1986-87 and the subsequent collapse of the economy led to western structural adjustment programs which left the country impoverished.
I don't mean to lecture or bore but I think it's important to look at this particular genocide not as an African norm, rather as an exception. It's also very, very important to see the way that western countries helped, not necessarily intentionally but nevertheless, to bring about genocide.
Peace,
Matt
Uganda
1 comments:
Historical note: This is my first blog ever. I've read all Matt's posts today. Sorry it took me so long to get on board. I think I may have overloaded my brain. The posts raise fascinating complex issues. They are eloquently stated in a compelling fashion.
Reading about your Rwanda vist immediately brought back memories of my visits to the German concentration camps...the bones, teeth, hair, personal belongings. Proximity to such degradation, abuse, torture and death is profound. The similarity in the world response to the holocuast, Rwanda, and Darfur is striking. It takes a long time for the world community to agree that something bad is happening. One would think that modern communications would change that, but it hasn't. It seems that it's becoming more difficult for the world to agree. The UN has been debating whether or not to call the Darfur situation genocide for years. Since unilateral action is politically unacceptable in the world today, no one acts at all.
You are right about the issues created by the nature of education regarding history. Most schools do a poor job of teaching history with any depth or accurracy. Thousands graduate from our colleges each year having taken no history class at all. Worse yet, much of the history cirriculum is written to support a particular viewpoint or "side". To look at history as a matter of taking sides is to turn the human failing of bias into a principle that permeates and pollutes the whole endeavor. I grew up with the TV series "Roots" as the basis of my understanding of the history of slavery. It begins with the depiction of white men tracking and trapping Africans for the slave trade. In fact, no white person would dare venture into the interior of Africa. The tracking and trapping was perpetrated by other Africans. This is not to diminish the deplorable role of the west in the slave trade. It is, however, an indication of how bias creeps into and distorts the facts. One needs to ask why the facts are changed and what "side" is being supported.
Well, I think to fast and type too slowly, but this blogging stuff is rather fun. I still prefer discussing issues over a hot-fudge-sundae. Seriously, thanks Matt for sharing your experiences with us as well as your perspective. You raise many pertinent issues. If more young people knew those issues existed, the world would be a better place.
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