Rwanda Genocide Research Paper

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Pages: 2

In the case of Rwanda, we see a country that found much of its accomplishments after the Rwandan genocide. Much like South Africa and many other African countries, Rwandans were assigned ID cards that would state their ethnicity. However, in Rwanda, ethnicities were assigned and were not of true representation of the peoples ancestry; race and power would become synonymous. The two main “ethnicities” that become important in Rwandan society are the Tutsi and the Hutu. With all of the political conflict going on, Rwanda falls into poverty and it soon becomes not only a power struggle but an economic one as well. However, it is the Rwandan Genocide would forever change Rwandan and its inhabitants. In 1994, chaos broke loose after it was discovered that President Habyarimana …show more content…
(Rwandan Radio 1) Violence breaks out and Hutus begin murdering Tutsis, starting in Kigali. Propaganda, especially radio stations, begin to tell its audiences (particularly Hutus), to stand their ground and kill any Tutsi they come across. (Rwandan Radio 6) As Scott Straus states in The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda, “They chose genocide as an extreme, vengeful, and desperate strategy to win a war that they were losing.” (Straus 12) It was the only way the MRND saw they could stay in power and kill their opposition, the RPF.It is not until the Tutsis rebels obtain power that the violence stops. (Straus 14) Rwandan’s new authorities have worked towards ending ethnic division and avoiding another further violence. (Straus 14) As can be noted, Rwandan’s dealt with a massive internal crisis that could have easily torn the entire country apart and created issues far beyond our conception. Yet, it was not “ancient hatred” (Straus 2) that had caused the genocide, but the concept of a nationalist ideology and the long term effects of being