Wake Up World

By: Madi StewartKendall Gordon

Libby WullerAnd 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)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYkRI5IHAA

This video and song show pictures, and tell the tale of the genocide.

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. Theseimages are not something that we want to pass on toour 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*7W3A2NeD1Hq9NQqBdJcaYiJ81pY7aCLCxXqLKEnvT2ztA30IKKICZsuGVAW6C0liG1tLrpc3RoUD/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