We Wish to Inform You of your Government’s lack of Involvement when Needed Most

The book, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, by Philip Gourevitch was both chilling and disturbing. Like the movie, Hotel Rwanda, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, tells the story of the Rwandan genocide. Unlike Hotel Rwanda, Philip Gourevitch delves deeply into Rwandan history to explain why divisions exist between Hutus and Tutsis. According to Philip Gourevitch, division among ethnicities was created when the Belgians chose Tutsis as the master race. Disturbingly, Tutsis were chosen because of their likeness to Europeans –their lighter skin tone and narrow nose. In the eyes of Belgians, these physical characteristics proved that Tutsis were superior to the more African looking Hutus. The Belgians used Tutsis to command the Hutus into forced labor, which created a large divide among Tutsis and Hutus. Upon giving up colonial rule, Belgians left power not to the Tutsis, which it had utilized in the past, but to the majority –Hutus. Hutus had experienced years of oppression and forced labor by way of the Tutsis, which incited acts of retaliation eventually leading to genocide.

Historical aspects leading up to the Rwandan genocide were difficult to read, but what was more difficult to fathom was why the world stood by and watched this take place. Through this course we have learned of a few failed attempts at colonial rule. Rwanda was an extreme example of mismanagement first by the Belgians, then by the United States, and all other countries that comprise the United Nations. The lack of involvement from the west reminded me of the famous quote by Henry David Thoreau which reads, “How does a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.”

Hotel Rwanda, as I stated in our discussion board, failed to explain the cause of division between Hutus and Tutsis. In short, it was too vague. We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda was not nearly as vague. It told of the story of Odette and Jean-Baptiste; however, unlike Hotel Rwanda, the book addressed, in much greater detail, western influence that caused division among Hutus and Tutsis. It also attacked individual countries for their lack of involvement –particularly the United States under the direction of President Clinton. Hotel Rwanda only told of the outcome –that the UN was going to leave Rwanda; it did not fully explain why? The book was much clearer; Hotel Rwanda would have been a much better film had it included the west’s involvement in creating tension, then the west’s lack of involvement in bring the genocide to an end.

What can be learned through the movie Hotel Rwanda are only half truths. The movie provides only one perspective and that is of the Tutsi victims. It doesn’t show the years of oppression that Hutus suffered, which ultimately contributed to the violence against Tutsis. Adding this aspect to the film would not add entertainment value, but would make the film more informative and not so one sided. This isn’t to say that Tutsis deserved to be murdered, but there are multiple perspectives concerning what took place in Rwanda and this film only addresses one.