Genocide

The African country of Rwanda experienced a horrific genocide in 1994, leaving approximately 800,000 people dead. The Rwandan genocide accurately depicts the spiral of violence in Catholic Social Teaching. The spiral is evident with regard to the tensions between the Hutus and the Tutsis. A basic injustice is rooted in the Belgian favoritism of the Tutsi minority people during the Belgian's possession of Rwanda. When the Belgians departed, the Hutu people rose to power in the government. Years of oppression under the Tutsis incited a violent response in retaliation from the Hutus. A Hutu extremist group, the Interhamwe, obtained arms, machetes, and machine guns for use to kill Tutsis. Heightened violent fighting erupted between the Interhamwe and the RPF, a Tutsi extremist group. The Interhamwe wiped out Tutsis in entire villages and towns; they also killed many Tutsi sympathizers. Eventually, the intense fighting was stopped when the RPF pushed the Interhamwe over the border into Congo. The violence temporarily ended. However, this peace was tainted by more injustice as seen in certain actions of court systems such as gacaca. As shown, the Rwandan genocide is a prime example of the spiral of violence. The violence could have been slowed or stopped before it became a full-fledged genocide had European countries intervened in a timely manner. Intervention by European armies would have saved thousands of innocent lives. It also would have stemmed the power flow to the Interhamwe before the Hutu group got to the maximum level it was able to reach.

This spiral of violence is also evident in events in our own nation's history. Much violence was involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Extremist groups such as the KKK and the Black Panther Party emerged. Violent responses and counter-responses ensued between the two groups. Luckily, the end of the Civil Rights Movement resolved some of these violent tensions. Recently, the spiral of violence was most likely avoided when the U.S. chose not to bomb Syria. The idea of the bombings was incited by the basic injustices being practiced in Syria and on its people. Had the United States chosen to go ahead with the bombings, increased violence and violent counter-attacks most likely would have ensued. Several other infamous events in American history have come close to continuing down the endless spiral of violence. Obvious signs of the beginning of this spiral must be addressed and the acts of violence stopped. Horrible acts such as the Rwandan genocide and the fighting during the Civil Rights Movement cannot be repeated in our world's future.