In my English class we are reading a book called Left to Tell, which is a first person story about the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994. I thought that this Salgado photograph was very fitting because that is exactly were it is from. These are a few Rwandan refugees that have fled to the country of Zaire to get medical help. The roots of this genocide started in the late 50's and early 60's when the Belgian's encouraged the government take-over of the Tutsi tribe by the Hutu tribe. When the Hutu tribe was in power the Tutsis became second class citizens. The physical appearance of Hutus and Tutsis was almost inseparable, but that was enough for the Hutus. In 1994 the Rwandan President, a Hutu, ordered a slaughter which ended up totaling more than one million people in 100 days. In 2003, after many interactions with the UN, Rwanda has a new president and their are laws that strictly prohibit discrimination of any kind (Wikipedia). Photo by Sebastiao Salgado
I believe that genocide is the saddest form of human behavior. As humans we have the unique ability to see past our differences and tolerate one another. Although our differences may be great, they never justify the shedding of blood. This behavior of the Tutsi tribe was primitive at best and it is a shame that the response to end this catastrophe took so long. The problem is that there are long standing tribal disputes in regions like Rwanda. These tribes see each other not as humans but as enemies. The only way such conflicts can come to an end is if the two parties see eye to eye and put aside their differences. Unfortunately, you can’t just erase hundreds of years of conflict.
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