The Rwandan Genocide

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The Ghosts of Rwanda

The Rwandan Genocide. A horrible nightmare for many nations, but mainly for Rwanda. After a potential peace treaty going south, the Hutus, viciously murdered close to 1 million Tutsi. The United Nations and the United States stayed out of Rwanda in fear that another Somalia may take place. This paper is taking a look at the sociological ways that explain the chain events. In the tragedy of Rwanda, there have been different sayings of what was the official cause. In this particular case with the Rwandan Genocide the political aspect, the racial divide, and the theory of conflict are the main causes of this genocide.

Many could say that the official spark of the genocide was the attack on the plane carrying the Rwanda and Burundi Presidents. The Rwandan president being part of the Hutu tribe. To this day the world does not know who shot down the plane. There has always been a power struggle in Rwanda, and each tribe feels repressed by the other. From when the Hutu took the power from the Belgium in the 60 's. There was now a rebel army of Tutsi that wanted to overthrow the government. Which is why the UN sent troops in initially, to help create peace between the Rwandan government, and this rebel army. As well as improve the military intelligence to help calm the refugee crisis that was happening in Rwanda. It wasn 't till after the general of the peace troops, General Dallaire, found out about another group of refugees, the Hutu extremists. How they wanted to create an "Armageddon for the Tutsi" (Ghost of Rwanda). Now bring it back to the plane crash, it is speculated that the extremists had caused the explosion, to start the genocide. Even though the Rwandan President was Hutu, he had ele...

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...nce is another definition of conflict theory. Fighting the oppression of the Tutsi taking control.

In conclusion, this genocide was not a spontaneous event that was a means to overthrow a government, but the result of an overthrown government. There are many theories and sociological examples that are able to define what was going on in Rwanda during this tragic time. The main being political aspects, racial divides, and conflict theory. The main being the racial divide between the two groups. That much conflict because of what race one is, even they look almost the exact same as you, but because they are labeled differently by the government is a scary aspect. What 's even scarier, is looking to a nation, or an organization that has vowed to never let anything like what happened to the Jewish people, happen again and turning their backs on the nation in need.

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