DBQ Essay On Rwandan Genocide
Mia Pena-Rahman
Mr. Deblock
16-17 DBQ 2
Essay on Rwandan Genocide Conflict in Rwanda was caused by many actions throughout history and resentment and anger being built up which led to one swift cruel act - genocide. The road to genocide begins with labels, or classification. The people who brought these racist ideas to a once peaceful Rwanda in the first place were Belgian colonists who believed the white race was superior. Rwanda became a colony of Belgium in 1914, and, gained independence from Belgium in the 1960s (“Year of Africa”). Following Rwanda gaining independence from Belgium began the dispute to figure out who would rule Rwanda after the Belgians left and there was no one the favor, the Tutsis. This was when the genocide broke …show more content…
out, the Hutus were in complete supremacy, they began tantalizing the Tutsis, although, they themselves were once the victims of this cruel injustice life they were blinded by their own rage and eventually this lead to the genocide. The cause of the genocide was because of many reasons, no one thing was entirely responsible for the ethnic cleansing. The Belgian coming in and creating that racial classification, the Hutus resentment building up for over 60 years, and, the way the Hutus viewed the Tutsis as inhumane all played into why the genocide occurred.
The genocide would not have ever occurred if the separate categories of people never existed.
The labels Hutu and Tutsi play into why the genocide occurred because the passage to genocide starts with more than one label to classify people. When people see this it is natural for the human brain to need leadership, to have a superior so, they figure out who is better. They define this by whoever has things that make them higher-ranking. According to Document One and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, giving people labels can lead to genocide because once there are specific groups or classification people tend to think that they need to determine which one is superior. These actions lead to the superior group constantly putting down and discriminating the lower group and not allowing them to participate in all the activities that they would like to and oppressing their career options. Then, the lower race would get so bitter and sour from years of being belittled and looked down upon that they would gather, revolt, uprise, and commit genocide. Or, another case scenario would be that the originally superior group looked down upon and resented the lower group so much that they no longer saw them as human and then decided to commit genocide. The Belgians favored the Europeans because they were more “white looking” so they gave them better weapons and materials which was what made them …show more content…
worthier.
Genocide is something gradual and it takes time to happen.
Most of the time the smallest act can lead to the start of a genocide. But, in reality that last act was enough to throw a group over the edge, it was really those years of pent up fury that caused the genocide. According to Document Two and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, the Hutus were oppressed by having limited rights like not being able to have a good education, no land ownership or positions in government. By doing this the Tutsi limiting the Hutus of basic human needs. The Tutsis were power and had opportunities for jobs and living better lives, this made the Hutus resentment grow. Therefore in order for genocide to transpire oppression needs to occur. According to Document Four, and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, after independence (“Year of Africa”) oppression and discrimination in Rwanda changed because the Hutus took power and used oppression to limit the rights of the Tutsis. The Hutu took revenge to claim power back and a civil war broke
out.
Also murdering people in that kind of mass amount and with that cruelty is impossible unless you do not see the other one as human. To make it easier to do the killing the Hutus subconsciously saw the Tutsis as inanimate objects therefore, allowing them to kill. According to Document Four, and the movie Hotel Rwanda, The signal “cut down the tall trees” which was used to begin the genocide was dehumanizing to the Tutsis because it showed that the Hutus was the Tutsis and inanimate objects like trees instead of humans. Also, when the messages were sent over the radio it encouraged the killing of the Tutsis by portraying them as evil cockroaches and rats.
Mr. Deblock
16-17 DBQ 2
Essay on Rwandan Genocide Conflict in Rwanda was caused by many actions throughout history and resentment and anger being built up which led to one swift cruel act - genocide. The road to genocide begins with labels, or classification. The people who brought these racist ideas to a once peaceful Rwanda in the first place were Belgian colonists who believed the white race was superior. Rwanda became a colony of Belgium in 1914, and, gained independence from Belgium in the 1960s (“Year of Africa”). Following Rwanda gaining independence from Belgium began the dispute to figure out who would rule Rwanda after the Belgians left and there was no one the favor, the Tutsis. This was when the genocide broke …show more content…
out, the Hutus were in complete supremacy, they began tantalizing the Tutsis, although, they themselves were once the victims of this cruel injustice life they were blinded by their own rage and eventually this lead to the genocide. The cause of the genocide was because of many reasons, no one thing was entirely responsible for the ethnic cleansing. The Belgian coming in and creating that racial classification, the Hutus resentment building up for over 60 years, and, the way the Hutus viewed the Tutsis as inhumane all played into why the genocide occurred.
The genocide would not have ever occurred if the separate categories of people never existed.
The labels Hutu and Tutsi play into why the genocide occurred because the passage to genocide starts with more than one label to classify people. When people see this it is natural for the human brain to need leadership, to have a superior so, they figure out who is better. They define this by whoever has things that make them higher-ranking. According to Document One and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, giving people labels can lead to genocide because once there are specific groups or classification people tend to think that they need to determine which one is superior. These actions lead to the superior group constantly putting down and discriminating the lower group and not allowing them to participate in all the activities that they would like to and oppressing their career options. Then, the lower race would get so bitter and sour from years of being belittled and looked down upon that they would gather, revolt, uprise, and commit genocide. Or, another case scenario would be that the originally superior group looked down upon and resented the lower group so much that they no longer saw them as human and then decided to commit genocide. The Belgians favored the Europeans because they were more “white looking” so they gave them better weapons and materials which was what made them …show more content…
worthier.
Genocide is something gradual and it takes time to happen.
Most of the time the smallest act can lead to the start of a genocide. But, in reality that last act was enough to throw a group over the edge, it was really those years of pent up fury that caused the genocide. According to Document Two and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, the Hutus were oppressed by having limited rights like not being able to have a good education, no land ownership or positions in government. By doing this the Tutsi limiting the Hutus of basic human needs. The Tutsis were power and had opportunities for jobs and living better lives, this made the Hutus resentment grow. Therefore in order for genocide to transpire oppression needs to occur. According to Document Four, and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, after independence (“Year of Africa”) oppression and discrimination in Rwanda changed because the Hutus took power and used oppression to limit the rights of the Tutsis. The Hutu took revenge to claim power back and a civil war broke
out.
Also murdering people in that kind of mass amount and with that cruelty is impossible unless you do not see the other one as human. To make it easier to do the killing the Hutus subconsciously saw the Tutsis as inanimate objects therefore, allowing them to kill. According to Document Four, and the movie Hotel Rwanda, The signal “cut down the tall trees” which was used to begin the genocide was dehumanizing to the Tutsis because it showed that the Hutus was the Tutsis and inanimate objects like trees instead of humans. Also, when the messages were sent over the radio it encouraged the killing of the Tutsis by portraying them as evil cockroaches and rats.