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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Out of Nowhere, It Just Happens

At the beginning of each semester, I ask my students to tell me what they know about genocide. Most of my students' knowledge of genocide is pretty limited.  If pressed, they will mention the Holocaust and the gas chambers.

Most students believe that genocides happen out of nowhere, that people are going about minding their own business and then suddenly, the genocide starts and everyone is taken by surprise by the killing.  I am not saying this to point out their naiveté, rather I think this is just plain human nature.  People are resistant to the idea that a genocide is meticulously planned, even one that seemed as chaotic as the one in Rwanda.   My students are understandably uneasy with the idea that a group of people had a meeting, or series of meetings, and decided that the only way forward was to attempt to kill off every individual of a certain group, to eliminate them in their entirety.

Come to think of it, that is hard to get your head around.

Sadly, it is also the truth.

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