DBQ Essay On Rwandan Genocide

Mia Pena-Rahman
Mr. Deblock
16-17 DBQ 2
Essay on Rwandan Genocide Conflict in Rwanda was caused by many actions throughout history and resentment and anger being built up which led to one swift cruel act - genocide. The road to genocide begins with labels, or classification. The people who brought these racist ideas to a once peaceful Rwanda in the first place were Belgian colonists who believed the white race was superior. Rwanda became a colony of Belgium in 1914, and, gained independence from Belgium in the 1960s (“Year of Africa”). Following Rwanda gaining independence from Belgium began the dispute to figure out who would rule Rwanda after the Belgians left and there was no one the favor, the Tutsis. This was when the genocide broke
The labels Hutu and Tutsi play into why the genocide occurred because the passage to genocide starts with more than one label to classify people. When people see this it is natural for the human brain to need leadership, to have a superior so, they figure out who is better. They define this by whoever has things that make them higher-ranking. According to Document One and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, giving people labels can lead to genocide because once there are specific groups or classification people tend to think that they need to determine which one is superior. These actions lead to the superior group constantly putting down and discriminating the lower group and not allowing them to participate in all the activities that they would like to and oppressing their career options. Then, the lower race would get so bitter and sour from years of being belittled and looked down upon that they would gather, revolt, uprise, and commit genocide. Or, another case scenario would be that the originally superior group looked down upon and resented the lower group so much that they no longer saw them as human and then decided to commit genocide. The Belgians favored the Europeans because they were more “white looking” so they gave them better weapons and materials which was what made them
Most of the time the smallest act can lead to the start of a genocide. But, in reality that last act was enough to throw a group over the edge, it was really those years of pent up fury that caused the genocide. According to Document Two and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, the Hutus were oppressed by having limited rights like not being able to have a good education, no land ownership or positions in government. By doing this the Tutsi limiting the Hutus of basic human needs. The Tutsis were power and had opportunities for jobs and living better lives, this made the Hutus resentment grow. Therefore in order for genocide to transpire oppression needs to occur. According to Document Four, and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, after independence (“Year of Africa”) oppression and discrimination in Rwanda changed because the Hutus took power and used oppression to limit the rights of the Tutsis. The Hutu took revenge to claim power back and a civil war broke