Reflections on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda

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Reflections from Hadley Morrow, Director of Equity & Engagement

This month, our Board meeting fell on April 7, the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. In Rwanda, April 7 is Genocide against the Tutsi Memorial Day. Each year millions of people gather to mourn an unimaginable loss, to try to find a place for an unthinkable event in their history, to remember incredible darkness.

On April 7, 1994, Rwanda slipped into darkness, and over the next 100 days, nearly a million people were killed, raped, or crippled at the hands of an extremist-led government because of their ethnicity. For 100 days, the world was shocked by the atrocities in Rwanda, but no nations intervened.

In 2011, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Rwanda. My thesis was on genocide memorials and explored these questions: How can a nation memorialize such a significant trauma? Why explore such darkness every year? What are the impacts?

 Since 1994, Rwanda has focused on cultural unity – "We are all Rwandan" – and moving away from ethnic classifications. A common phrase on flags at the memorials reads, "If you knew me, and really knew yourself, you could not kill me." 

There is fundamentally no difference between Hutu and Tutsi people. These identities became institutionalized as a result of white Belgian colonizers. Rwandans were forced to have identity cards, and Tutsis were given more government power than Hutu. It is a common tactic of colonialization to divide the people when aiming to conquer. Although the Belgians left in 1962, the legacy of the division remained and festered. 

We may find comfort in believing this was a fluke event. We go through such lengths to hide from humanity's dark history, but darkness grows in all of the corner's light doesn't reach. 

After the holocaust, we promised "Never Again," yet the world stood motionless 27 years ago, and as you read, genocide is happening in Myanmar. Our nation's history grew from this same dangerous sense of racial/ethnic superiority; one used to justify genocide against indigenous people in America, the enslavement of African people, and many other groups' oppression.

What I saw and learned while in Rwanda changed me, and I committed to sharing Rwanda's story every April 7. I ask people in my community to take time to research and reflect. I share that challenge with you today. The story of the human capacity for committing or ignoring horrors is not just a story for Rwandans to remember. It's the story of our human history.

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