How Native American Genocide Affects People And Society

Imagine being part of one of the world's worst genocides. Imagine trying to kill Native Americans for hundreds of years. Imagine killing races of people just because you didn't like how they looked or even acted. Imagine putting millions of people into camps and forcing them to work when they're sick. You can't do it, can you? This has happened to millions of people over thousands of years.

The deliberate killing of all people in a nation, race, political, or cultural group; the definition of genocide. Many people have different views on which genocides, are worst. I think that the Holocaust was the worst, while there are others who think the Native American genocide was. Although others cannot deny that all genocides were atrocious. Some of those genocides include the Cambodian, Moriori, Holdomer, Native American, Asian Holocaust, Ottoman Greek Empire, Rwandan, Congo “Free” State, and the Circassian Ethnic Cleansing genocides.

Genocide affects people and society in many different ways.

When a genocide occurs, people become refugees to get away from it all. Refugees then become a social, political, and economic burden on other countries. The refugees also have to deal with discrimination and racism as they will have to live in refugee camps. Another way that it affects society, is the victim groups will get major hate from other people. Lastly, after a genocide ends, you have to rebuild a society, which is the most difficult thing to do.

Today, there are still many genocides happening. There are many countries under Genocide Watch. The term Genocide Watch means that there are signs of a genocide happening in the future. Genocide Warning means that genocide is imminent. And the term Genocide Emergency means that that country has a genocide underway. Many countries are under Genocide Emergency right now. Some of those countries include Iraq, Somalia, Myanmar, Nigeria, and CAR (the Central African

Republic).
One of the most atrocious genocides was the Cambodian Genocide, which was lead by Pot Pol in Cambodia, (a country in southeast Asia.) It lasted between the years 1975 to 1979. In those four years, it killed 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 people, which was over 25% of the population in three years. Pot Pol started the genocide because he wanted to centralize and nationalize the peasant farming society. He kept everyone who was fit to work on farms, and killed everyone who wasn't. The genocide started when a brutal, murderous and revolutionary group name the Khmer Rouge gained power over Lon Nol. Their aim was to convert Cambodia back to “Year Zero” and have all citizens participate in rural work projects.
On April 17, 1975, Khmer Rouge soldiers marched into Phnom Penh, and evacuated the city. They forced citizens out of their homes, and they were then marched to labor camps and farms. Anyone who refused to leave were killed on the spot. If anyone was not able to make it to the camps and farms, they were shot as well. They also killed the ill, disabled, young and old. Many people became sick on the way to the farms and camps and were killed because they couldn't work. “Hospital patients still in their white gowns stumbled along carrying their IV bottles. Screaming children ran in desperate search for their parents.” “To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss.” - Kang Kek Iew
Any person who was sick, disabled, or could not work, was killed immediately. Khmer Rouge also killed all students, professors, journalists, doctors, lawyers, professionals, and all people living in the upper class. All factories, schools, universities, hospitals, and private institutions were shut down. They also killed all employees and owners, along with their extended families. Religious enthusiasts, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai people were all killed. Any Cambodian with any Chinese, Vietnamese, or Thai background was also killed. Buddhist and Christian missionaries were killed as well, and their temples and churches were burned. Any person who wore glasses, or spoke another language were also killed. Nobody was allowed to show emotion, (like crying or smiling,) or else they would be shot. Anybody who belonged to any of these groups, were believed to be a threat to the state. Overall, there were 3,314,768 deaths in three years.
After the Cambodian Genocide, thousands of people moved away to other countries, and became refugees. Many people opted to go Thailand. Over 650,000 people died in the years after the genocide, due to starvation, malaria, typhoid, cholera, and other diseases that the refugees brought to Thailand. Many refugees even stepped on land mines set by the Khmer Rouge, which also killed them. Many survivors of the genocide had gained post traumatic stress disorder as well.
In the early 1900's, mass graves were discovered all through Cambodia. In those graves were dozens to thousands of skeletons from the executions of the Khmer Rouge. Mostly, the villagers piled the bodies into barns, or outbuildings the Khmer Rouge built. Still today, the villagers say that the skeletons speak to them.
Another atrocious genocide, was the Armenian Genocide, otherwise known as the Ottoman Greek Empire Genocide. This genocide took place in 1915-1923, (in the Ottoman Greek Empire,) and was led by the Turkish government. Their plan was to kill all Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Before the genocide, there were 2 million Armenians. During the genocide, they killed 1.5 of those people and removed many more. When it was over, there were only 338,000 Armenians remaining. They believed that Armenians were a threat and needed to be killed for a war measure.
The genocide started on April 24, 1915. The Turkish government turned people out of their homes, and forced them to walk on death marches through the Mesopotamia desert with no food or water. All marchers were stripped naked, and were forced to walk under the scorching sun for hours on end until they dropped dead. Anyone who stopped to rest were shot on the spot. People were also killed by sword with major bloodshed.
The Turkish government created a “Special Organization.” This “Special Organization”, drowned people in rivers, threw them off cliffs, and burned people alive. They also kidnapped children, converted them to Islam religion, then gave them away to Turkish families. Young women and children were tied up and placed into new homes. There, in the new homes, they were forced to learn the language and religion of their captors. They were not allowed to grieve, and were immediately employed as unpaid laborers. They even raped and forced women to become slaves. Muslims then moved into those people's homes and stole all their property and belongings.
The Young Turk government posed strict restrictions on reporting the genocide. They removed almost all evidence that it ever happened. Even today, they deny that a genocide ever took place. It is even illegal to talk about in Turkey. Armenians today still wish for the genocide to be acknowledged but it still hasn't.
Even today, there are still genocides happening that are just as atrocious. Not many people can imagine the pain that these people did, but the survivors do try to explain it. It's pretty hard to imagine that things like this happen, but they do. Every. Single. Day.