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The Rwandan Genocide And The Genocide

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Miranda Shearer
Mrs. Sohal/ Mrs. Love
Period 3
17 October 2014

The Rwandan Genocide
A genocide is defined as the deliberate killing of a group of people, especially of a certain ethnicity. By that definition and almost any other a dictionary could define, the killing of the Tutsis was certainly a genocide.The Rwandan Genocide occurred in 1994, in an African country called Rwanda. A long history of building friction between the Hutus and the Tutsis undeniably caused the mass murder of over 800,000 Tutsis, but various countries’ failure to act allowed the genocide to go on longer than it should have been able to.
Before the genocide actually occurred, the Hutus and Tutsis had a long history of tension between them, which would sometimes break out in violence. Though hostility between the ethnicities has always existed, dislike grew into hatred when Belgian colonists came to Rwanda in 1916 ("Rwanda"). The Belgians decided that Tutsis were superior to Hutus, and forced everyone to carry ethnicity identity cards. The Tutsi were slightly taller and thinner than the Hutus, with slightly paler skin and more experience with governing, which was likely what led the Belgians to make such a decision. Though the Hutus and Tutsis are similar in language and traditions, these identity cards allowed the Tutsis to get superior jobs and education. Needless to say, the Hutus became increasingly resentful, which led to increased ("Rwanda"). In 1959, there were a series of Hutu riots that

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