Posts Tagged ‘race
by @zizii2
I have been spooked these last 10 days by the insanity that erupted here in the US since the Paris terrorist attacks. I wanted to give words to my thoughts. But I froze. Then I rediscovered this piece I began writing in April 2013, but had abandoned for being too alarmist! If only I knew….
Here is the piece completed with a few edits…
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Rwanda: A Haunting Lesson
April 6 marked the (21st) anniversary of the launch of the genocidal nightmare in the central African country of Rwanda that ended 100 days later with 800,000 people dead, and a nation scarred deeply. That was 11.4% of the total population of 7 million. Nearly three-quarters of those massacred were Tutsis who comprised 14% of the entire population.
The word “anniversary” seems inappropriate because although it is technically a neutral term it still invokes positive associations and anticipation. No one should anticipate a genocide nor look forward to marking milestones in its aftermath. Yet mark, we must. The lessons are not simply framed in dog-eared history tomes or award winning films about a bygone tragedy. The lessons are here. With us. Today.
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In societies wracked by mass economic, social and political faultlines the signs are always there for a Rwanda Redux, or a Srebrenica. Hate Radio. Divide and conquer. Nihilism. Opportunistic politicians and cultural loudmouths. Group resentment. Grievance. Silence and apathy from the majority population. Now, all of these do not a genocide trigger. But they exist to be manipulated if conditions ripen.
“The Rwandan genocide resulted from the conscious choice of the elite to promote hatred and fear to keep itself in power. This small, privileged group first set the majority against the minority to counter a growing political opposition within Rwanda. Then, faced with RPF success on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, these few power holders transformed the strategy of ethnic division into genocide. They believed that the extermination campaign would reinstate the solidarity of the Hutu under their leadership and help them win the war, or at least improve their chances of negotiating a favorable peace. They seized control of the state and used its authority to carry out the massacre. (UnitedHumanRights.Org)”
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A Tweet or Two
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Good
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https://twitter.com/MichaelaAngelaD/status/639140014274805760
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Shonda Rhimes domination of TV is WONDERFUL because it looks like the America of 2015
https://twitter.com/darbysofficial/status/639114071954976768
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David Mack: Texas Police Officer Suspended After Pulling Weapon On Teens During Pool Party
The lies
Officers were called to the a local community pool around 7:15 p.m. local time to respond to a “disturbance involving multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave,” the McKinney Police Department said in a post on its Facebook page. Other calls also advised that the teens were “actively fighting,” police said. “First responding officers encountered a large crowd that refused to comply with police commands. Nine additional units responded to the scene. Officers were eventually able to gain control of the situation,” police said.
Then the truth emerged
However, video later emerged of one officer aggressively handcuffing and detaining teens who described themselves as bystanders, before wrestling a girl in a bathing suit to the ground and drawing his weapon on others who came to her aid. Brooks, the 15-year-old who shot the YouTube video, told BuzzFeed News many students had arrived at the end-of-school celebration at the pool on guest passes. “I think a bunch of white parents were angry that a bunch of black kids who don’t live in the neighborhood were in the pool,” said Brooks, who is white. Grace Stone, a white 14-year-old, told BuzzFeed News that when she and her friends objected to the racist comments about public housing an adult woman then became violent. When police arrived on scene, teens began fleeing. That’s when Brooks began his recording. “Everyone who was getting put on the ground was black, Mexican, Arabic,” he said. “[The cop] didn’t even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible.”
More here
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https://twitter.com/daniecal/status/607607624792571904
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https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/607603255145676800
https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/607603375253757952
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The white parents and white people who do this to Black children, who do this to Black people – picking up the phone and calling the cops because a Black person or Black people are in the neighborhood. Who look at a Black body and see a threat instead of a child or a human being, YOU are complicit. If the cop had killed a child today, YOU are complicit. Shame on YOU.
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https://twitter.com/WillBrianna/status/607604162684186624
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/607607705981718528
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https://twitter.com/sherifffruitfly/status/607603720512106496
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https://twitter.com/GlennF/status/607603758621540352
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https://twitter.com/DeeRene_/status/607590020069924864
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https://twitter.com/rieVAMPED/status/607592796166471681
https://twitter.com/Rex4711/status/607579797175336961
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https://twitter.com/daniecal/status/607579502894444544
https://twitter.com/fivefifths/status/607575102641815552
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https://twitter.com/elonjames/status/607616292686819328
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https://twitter.com/dyrbert/status/607579449761005568
https://twitter.com/elonjames/status/607618066911006720
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