Genocide In The Great Lakes: Summary

It was intriguing to read “Genocide in the Great Lakes: Which Genocide? Whose Genocide?” because it revealed many critical historical problems, and revelations, between Hutu and Tutsis. When reading history about Rwanda one does not think about actions that are happening outside of the country. It was interesting to find out that many other events were occurring that constituted as genocide, but were never covered by the media.
One major historical problem is the fact that peace-makers within Rwanda and Burundi are not looking at the situation in the correct manner. They are comparing Rwanda and Burundi to other war torn nation states within Africa, but this is impossible to do because these two nations are vastly different from any other nation. They are not war torn states, but states that are afflicted with despair and hatred because of genocide. It is stated by Rene Lemarchand, “Dealing with ‘post-conflict’ situations is one thing; healing the wounds of genocide is a very different manner.” I believe this statement to be true because, a nation can heal if there was a clear consensus that a rogue faction was causing harm to all ethnic groups within the country. However, it is hard to reconcile with people who deliberately attacked a certain ethnic group within that …show more content…
This is eye opening to read because now one can realize why the Hutus disliked the Tutsis with a passion. They were oppressed and the government was established in a way that held Hutus at the bottom of the totem pole. One can also see why the assassination of President Ndadaye brought fear to the Hutu population, because they believed Rwanda would be a replay of the devastating events that took place within