Genocide. How do we get here?

There are many interesting dynamics to our latest book, but the most intriguing element to me was the question mentioned in class of how do we get here? How do we get to full on mass murder and genocide? That is a question that has always perplexed me about massacre and even racism in general. What does it take to turn the mind to the point where one human being will depreciate the value of their fellow man’s humanity? It’s a question I still seek the answer, but I have some beliefs about how do we get here, as well as ideas about how do we get FROM here.  The fundamental of racism is an “us” and “them” mentality. It is a psychological fact that whenever human beings are divided into groups they automatically adapt attitudes of group superiority in favor of whom they identify as “our community.” When a person feels a sense of community and begin to see others as “outsiders” or “foreigners” it is obvious to me that whenever any threat to their community arises they will ascribe to nativism theories and develop a disdain for the group they deem as “other.” This otherizing is why you often see spikes of discrimination and genocide arise during times of domestic threats such as economic downturn or wartime. This trend is easily seen in U.S. history with The Naturalization Act, The Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese Internment camps and recent legislation discriminating against Hispanics and Latinos. The trend isn’t only a western phenomenon; it is also seen in the Holocaust. Hard times, and group rivalry are the perfect storm for xenophobia to turn into paranoia and discrimination to turn into massacre; nevertheless, none of this would be possible without groups. Without “us” and “them” the ethnic cleansings and persecutions seen in the former instances would have no premise, no meaning, and no perceived benefit. This is why I find the federal recognition of the myth that is human race extremely problematic. I find neither legitimate evidence nor any reasonable defense for the use of 17^th century mythology in the federal government. There is no case for race in the 21^st century. It is not a factor in any genetic code, nor a biological reality or even an adequate determinant of ancestry, geographical orientation, or historical contiguity. Human race is not real, it doesn’t tell you who you’re related to, or necessarily where you come from and it’s not a gene you can pass to your children. Skin color is a human trait that is determined in an identical and equally unphenomenal way as hair color and eye color. It’s a simple human trait like any other and does not account for any feasible genetic difference; but, until that is a publically known and admitted fact I fear that atrocities like the 1937 genocide in the Dominican Republic against Haitians will continue. All in the name of something that is nothing more than sheer illusion. Yet problem with a genocide is that no one ever knows it is one until after it happens because the victims have been “otherized” or defined out of equal humanity. However here are 8 common steps to genocide that we can be on the lookout for to prevent future devastations to humanity. The eight stages of genocide are

1)      Classification: divisions into us and them that may result in social or legal prohibitions of miscegenation.

2)       Symbolization: the use of slurs and derogatory language to describe members of a classified group or the use of physical labels (must wear stars, scarfs etc.)

3)      Dehumanization: depreciating the humanity of another human being. This is shown through social or legal discrimination and exclusion as well as the use of animal names to describe the group

4)       Organization: the forming of groups to carry out the acts of discrimination, exclusion or violence. Doesn’t have to be grand; many genocides were carried out by local officials or groups.

5)      Polarization: the elimination of moderates, caused by situations or happenings (purposeful or not) that force one to “choose a side.” This builds animosity and distance from the other group, which leads to indifference.

6)      Preparation: this includes identification such as listing ones classification (group) on important documents and ID cards. This will make the process of extermination easier and readily transgressed (in Rwanda victims were pulled over and killed routinely in traffic stops)

7)      Extermination: the collective murder of a group (called extermination because the group has been considered vermin, deposable, and expendable), may include mutilation. Victims are often piled into mass graves.

8)       Denial: the mass graves are often hidden, and documents are burned. Admittance of massacre is skillfully avoided with clever terms like “unconfirmed,” “alleged,” and technicalities over the legal definition of genocide are exploited and used as a defense.

 We must also keep in mind that the steps leading up to genocide do not have to be purposeful, or legalized; they sometimes happen as a “snowball” effect over time.