Thank you Cody Davey, Aydan Carver, and Grant Solis for allowing me to use your posts to reflect on modern genocides and gather information on them.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Modern Genocide Review
Throughout the many posts I have read on the subject of genocides, it is evident that no matter the length of the genocide, the countries or groups of people that partake in the genocide, or the end result of it all, they all have to do with the same thing; power. Through separation among a population, groups of people have been discriminating and committing acts of violence on each other, all to determine who will have the power over that nation. Whether it be through the ruling of an iron fist, the rebelling against the government, or the constant grievances on who to put in power, genocides happen because one group of people is upset with another group of people and the logical solution to them is to discriminate against them and start an all out display of aggressive violence. Who has governmental power in a nation can lead to uproar of violence because everybody wants to have their say in who is in control. If countries do not get a hold of control on who is in power, genocides will continue to happen. The constant willingness to kill a majority of a country's population just to get your beliefs in the government, is exactly what is causing these genocides. Unfortunately, genocides do not look like they will stop any time soon, due to the power hungry savages living in these countries all over the world.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Blogpost: Modern Genocides
One of the smallest countries in Central Africa, Rwanda is home to a population of 7 million people. Of these 7 million people, the population of Rwanda is broken up into two main ethnic groups; the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Hutu accounted for 90% of the population. The Hutu came to power after gaining their independence from Belgium in 1962 and asserted their dominance through discrimination and acts of violence. Over 200,000 Tutsis fled Rwanda to nearby countries in order to gain safety and formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel guerrilla army. In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front invaded Rwanda and forced the Hutu President, Juvenal Habyalimana to grant an equal share of power between the Hutus and the Tutsis.
Tension grew between the two groups in 1993 when the then President of the Hutu group, Melchior Ndadaye, was assassinated. The United Nations sent multinational soldiers to Rwanda to maintain order between the Hutu government and the Tutsi rebels. The Hutus wanted nothing to do with the Tutsis and were opposed to the idea of any shared power with the group. To go from bad to worse, in April of 1994, a plain that was carrying the President of Rwanda, Habyalimana and the President of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down.Immediately, Rwanda erupted into political violence with the Hutu extremists targeting Tutsi leaders and even moderate Hutu politicians.
Carrying machetes, clubs, guns and grenades the Hutu militia was on the look out to kill anybody of Tutsi ethnicity. Everybody in Rwanda carried identification cards, which before just specified their background, but now it meant the difference of whether or not they would survive or not. This became such a horrific display of violence that the United Nations were forced to evacuate the soldiers that were sent to protect and keep peace. The Rwandan radio station, controlled by Hutu extremists, further encouraged the killings by broadcasting non-stop hate propaganda and even addressed the locations of the Tutsis that were in hiding. The Hutu extremists consisted of everybody, from doctors and educators, to those just looking to take the Tutsi's land.
Between April and June of 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the span of 100 days. Such a violent and horrific display of actions is nothing short of a political outrage between two groups of people in a country. The differences that the Hutus and the Tutsis had regarding who would have power in the country ultimately led to a disturbance of peace all together, and resulted in an entire group of people suffering, laying defeated and dead at the feet of their victors. Genocides still exist today, and due to the vast differences in opinions and views the world has, they are likely to continue for years to come.
Tension grew between the two groups in 1993 when the then President of the Hutu group, Melchior Ndadaye, was assassinated. The United Nations sent multinational soldiers to Rwanda to maintain order between the Hutu government and the Tutsi rebels. The Hutus wanted nothing to do with the Tutsis and were opposed to the idea of any shared power with the group. To go from bad to worse, in April of 1994, a plain that was carrying the President of Rwanda, Habyalimana and the President of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down.Immediately, Rwanda erupted into political violence with the Hutu extremists targeting Tutsi leaders and even moderate Hutu politicians.
Carrying machetes, clubs, guns and grenades the Hutu militia was on the look out to kill anybody of Tutsi ethnicity. Everybody in Rwanda carried identification cards, which before just specified their background, but now it meant the difference of whether or not they would survive or not. This became such a horrific display of violence that the United Nations were forced to evacuate the soldiers that were sent to protect and keep peace. The Rwandan radio station, controlled by Hutu extremists, further encouraged the killings by broadcasting non-stop hate propaganda and even addressed the locations of the Tutsis that were in hiding. The Hutu extremists consisted of everybody, from doctors and educators, to those just looking to take the Tutsi's land.
Between April and June of 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the span of 100 days. Such a violent and horrific display of actions is nothing short of a political outrage between two groups of people in a country. The differences that the Hutus and the Tutsis had regarding who would have power in the country ultimately led to a disturbance of peace all together, and resulted in an entire group of people suffering, laying defeated and dead at the feet of their victors. Genocides still exist today, and due to the vast differences in opinions and views the world has, they are likely to continue for years to come.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Mentor Text-English Story
For my next mentor text, I decided to use the episode of SpongeBob titled "Boating School". In this episode SpongeBob is set to take his boating exam once again, however, as usual he does not know what he is doing. Terrified of failing his test yet again, he is forced to cheat. By using his friend Patrick from afar,
SpongeBob has Patrick give him the answers and tell him what to do during each part of the test.
As does my character Cody in my story, SpongeBob results to cheating instead of just facing reality and accepting the fact that he couldn't pass. I used SpongeBob's decision to cheat as a reference for my story. Although he knows it is the wrong decision, Cody cannot help but cheat in order to receive a passing grade, much like SpongeBob does to pass his boating exam. Filled with guilt and shame, SpongeBob reveals what he has done at the end of his exam because he cannot in all honesty accept a passing grade for the way in which he received it. I recognized the honesty in his decision and used it in my story. Although my character was caught cheating, at the end he came clean and confessed his mistake. I saw a lot of parallelism in my story and the episode of SpongeBob which is why I saw it necessary to use this as my mentor text.
SpongeBob has Patrick give him the answers and tell him what to do during each part of the test.
As does my character Cody in my story, SpongeBob results to cheating instead of just facing reality and accepting the fact that he couldn't pass. I used SpongeBob's decision to cheat as a reference for my story. Although he knows it is the wrong decision, Cody cannot help but cheat in order to receive a passing grade, much like SpongeBob does to pass his boating exam. Filled with guilt and shame, SpongeBob reveals what he has done at the end of his exam because he cannot in all honesty accept a passing grade for the way in which he received it. I recognized the honesty in his decision and used it in my story. Although my character was caught cheating, at the end he came clean and confessed his mistake. I saw a lot of parallelism in my story and the episode of SpongeBob which is why I saw it necessary to use this as my mentor text.
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