Wake Up World
By: Madi Stewart
Kendall Gordon
Libby Wuller
And Jake Meyer
10,000 murdered every day
400 every hour
7 every minute
=
1,174,000 murders in 100
days
Some things to know about Rwanda
• There are 2 main groups of people, the Hutu and the Tutsi.
• The population of Rwanda in 1994 was 7.3 million people - 84% of whom
where Hutu, 15% Tutsi and 1% Twa.
• Before the genocide occurred, the people of Rwanda were already
indentified by personal ID cards, issued by the Rwandan government.
• The lighter colored Rwandans were typically Tutsi, the minority group,
while the darker skinned Rwandans were typically Hutu, the majority group
in Rwanda.
• Leaders in the country pre-planned the genocide by communicating with
the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi.
• The youth forces for those state-formed terrorist groups accounted for
much of the violence.
The genocide was essentially started by the
assassination of the Rwandan president Juvénal
Habyarimana, and Burundian president Cyprien
Ntaryamira on April 6, 1994. The leaders of the
small nation-states were together on a plane
whose destination was Kigali National Airport in
Kigali, Rwanda, the capital of Rwanda. The plane’s
wing was bashed by a surface-to-air missile.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for
assassination, even to this day. Most skeptics
think that the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) is
the culprit.
•
This is a schoolroom chalkboard in Kigali, the capital of the fallen country.
Wanted for
participating in
the killing of
the Rwandan
genocide.
Difference between Tutsi, Hutu, and
Twa people (major ethnic groups in
Rwanda)
This video and song show pictures,
and tell the tale of the genocide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=PYkRI5IHAA
Racial Comments
Slang, slurs, and jokes are sometimes aimed at
different ethnic groups. Though some people
think jokes about a person’s looks and actions
are funny, many take offense and find it
wrong. Be careful what you do,
be careful what you say.
Discrimination in our school
One thing that the media shows kids, is that
its ok to use racial remarks as jokes. Bret
Patterson says it’s just a cultural thing. He
explained to me that many teens know the
difference between laughing at a joke, and
recognizing when someone is trying to be
rude. Just like kids say “I’m going to kill you,”
they often joke about skin color.
Discrimination in our school
Today our culture had influenced our youth to
see the world in a different world than our
ancestors. We have been shown that violence
in video games is ok, and that discrimination is
a part of our every day. These
images are not something
that we want to pass on to
our children! So why are we
not learning...
The Clique
Cliques are a HUGE part of our school. Most evolve out of common
interest and often are associated with the extracurricular activities that
students are involved in. Cody Knight also believes the group of people you
are with, is affected by the number of friends you have. But, the media
gives off the image that certain people are better than others. For
instance, if I say Jock, the picture that comes to your mind is generally a
sporty guy, with big muscles, and is decked out in head to toe Under
Armor and Nike gear. And if I were to say Nerd, an image of someone in a
button up, with a bow tie, and taped glasses is what you may see. These
stereotypes are also a factor in cliques, when they shouldn’t be. You
should hang with friends because you get along! Not because of the
media-forced images of those who are athletic and others who are smart!
And you may be asking us, “What ties
these two topics together?”
Much like Shay’s Rebellion in the early stages of
America, the genocide started with somebody
getting tired of their way of life. When the Tutsi’s
rebelled, they were just wanting to teach the
Hutu’s a lesson, and I’m sure we all agree they
learned their lesson, but they had to pay a price.
This has been repeated many times over history,
such as the Columbine and Virginia Tech
shootings. The question is, will the world ever
learn from these discrimination-induced
rebellions and genocides? You never know,
somebody who is ignored and may not have very
many friends could do something drastic, and we
don’t want that to happen.
Bibliography
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
"Map of Rwanda and Burundi." University of Pennsylvania-Africa Section. University of
Pennsylvania. Web. 3 Jan. 2010. <www.africa.upenn.edu/>.
"Map of Africa." Peony Moon Files-Wordpress.com. Peony Moon-wordpress.com. Web. 3 Jan.
2010. <peonymoon.files.wordpress.com>.
Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Web. 3 Jan. 2010. en.wikipedia.com/.
"Wanted for Genocide in Rwanda." Mugshots.com. Mugshots.com. Web. 3 Jan. 2010.
<www.mugshots.com>. "Differences between ethnic groups in Rwanda." Api.ning.com.
Api.ning.com. Web. 3 Jan. 2010.
<http://api.ning.com/files/5cPPgem2K69noOG3GVV*7W3A2NeD1Hq9NQqBdJcaYiJ81pY7aCL
CxXqLKEnvT2ztA30IKKICZsuGVAW6C0liG1tLrpc3RoUD/quadro_etnico_tutsi_hutu_twa.jpg>.
"Joseph Stalin Quotes." BrainyQuote. BrainyMedia.com. Web. 5 Jan. 2010.
<www.brainyquote.com>.
”Million Voices by Wyclef Jean." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 5 Jan. 2010. <www.youtube.com>.
“One death is a
tragedy; one million is a
statistic.”
-Joseph
Stalin