Hate Based Racial & Cultural Divisions

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how human beings are still capable of dividing themselves up into groups and committing terrible atrocities based on hatred for other groups of people. The paper focuses primarily on the Holocaust and the Rwandan massacres.

From the Paper:

"Sadly, in spite of the horror with which most people viewed Hitler's actions, such wars continued to be waged by some groups against others. Another such slaughter occurred in Africa, in the country of Rwanda, in 1994. This horror was between two tribes living in Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis. Even in the capitol city of Kigali one's tribal affiliation mattered. When violence erupted in 1994, Hutu tribal members were able to slaughter nearly one million Tutsis and other targeted individuals in only three months.
There are both similarities and differences between the Nazi Holocaust and the Hutu slaughter of 1994. Both campaigns relied heavily on propaganda. In German, German citizens were told that many of Germany's problems were the fault of Jews (2, PAGE). In Rwanda, the slaughter was triggered by the crash of the President's plane, which many believed was shot down by Tutsis because the President was a Hutu. One of the few radio stations immediately launched a campaign of hate propaganda against the Tutsis. This propaganda quickly fanned flames left smoldering from previous clashes between the two tribes. In both groups, the two groups had been able to live together in civility until propaganda divided them. While some Germans were anti-Semitic prior to World War II, others worked together and mixed socially. In Rwanda, Hutus and Tutsis had been able to live together in peace for some time in spite of a bloody history. In fact, the protagonist in the movie Hotel Rwanda, married a Tutsi woman. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• CIA. 2006. "Republic of Rwanda." World FactBook. Last updated June 13, 2006. Accessed via the Internet 6/19/06. <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rw.html>
• Fitzherbert, Katrin. 2002. "Growing up a Nazi." History Review.
• Weisel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam Books, 1982.

More papers on Hate Based Racial & Cultural Divisions:

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• Analytical Essay # 138387 : "Cultural Expectations and Wait Times"
• Essay # 31894 : "White Media, White Terror and Hate Speech"

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