The Rwandan genocide shows how misinformation and group loyalties can decimate humanity. Amid political and social rivalry, partisan radio stations brainwashed Hutus to hate their neighbors, and they slaughtered them.
Hatzfeld’s Machete Season, a killer says he cannot pinpoint the moment his perception was polluted against his former friends. Decades later, the children of these killers are trying to reconcile with children of the victims. Reconciliation projects have had success in nurturing new relationships and fostering forgiveness. This week, the First Lady of Rwanda said that education about the facts promotes an enlightened Rwandan identity, in which children accept their history and forge a better path.
When I consider the polarization in our country, I don’t think of violence and hatred like in Rwanda. But our democratic and anti-racist values are sustaining damage. Notice the incremental changes in political rhetoric and the shifts in expectations about one another’s motivations.
Facts have become commodities to be snatched from a marketplace of make-believe, like comfort food to nourish bias. False theories invented on social media are swallowed by a staggering number of people in power. We need to educate our children to read critically, to value the humanity of every person, to know when an argument is proven, and to understand the foundations of civil discourse.
If it can happen in Rwanda after a genocide, then surely sprouts of fresh enlightenment can push through the festering American soil and provide a brighter hope.
I'm Bill Gahanand that's my Perspective.
