It's Just Color

So last night I watched Hotel Rwanda. Wow. That movie was intense. When I checked it out from the front desk, the R.A. essentially told me, "This movie is amazing, but it will make you very, very angry. Don't break anything, we don't want to fine you." There was a little humor in her statement, but still, I was worried.
It did make me mad. And sad. And...well mostly just sad. Sad and disappointed in humanity. I can't comprehend that level of hate and oppression. The whole situation is just...I don't even know. I mean first off, how could the Belgians be so incredibly dumb and horrible and hateful? They started the whole conflict! They literally went into Rwanda and picked the Africans who were taller, or had lighter skin and gave them cards labeling them "Tutsi." They even measured peoples' noses to see whose were smaller! There were no racial conflicts before the Belgians came and "civilized" Central Africa. They gave the Tutsis power, because they were closer to caucasian by a nostril size. This, of course, upset the Hutus, the 'blacker' tribe. Once the Belgians left, the power was given to the Hutus. I'm still confused about that... Anyways, the Hutus decided to get back at the Tutsis for the years of poor treatment. Eventually the Hutus decided that the Tutsis were so undesirable the only logical (what logic could they be using?) was to kill them all off. Genocide ensued.
To start off, I can't even imagine the level of hate, cruelty, and inhumanity that leads people to justify the brutal murder of so many people, of infants and children and women! How could these people have no moral compass of any sort that informed them of the absolute evil of their actions? We're all human. That's it. Who cares about a different shade of skin, or eye color, or hair, or who has straighter teeth or better toenails? We're people. Our insides (essentially) work the same. Why?
I guess some of it stems from jealousy. I think this came from grudges and prejudices held onto for years and years. Some things just have to be let go. At a certain point people have to move on from the past. Not forget it, lest it repeat it self, but move on. Forgive. Stop victimizing themselves and live. Life is too short to hold grudges.
So first of all I'm appalled at the level of cruelty the Belgians, Tutsis, and eventually the Hutus showed one another that led to the Hutus' genocide of the Tutsi peoples. To make matters worse, no one cared. The UN was sent, but the UN can't really do anything. They're a peace keeping force or something. With little power to actually act, they couldn't even fire their guns. Lots of good that does against Hutu tribesmen with guns, power tools, and machetes. In one scene the main character, Paul, is driving down a road. Stretched in front of him, as far as the eye can see along the road, are hundreds of murdered Tutsis. They'd been "chopped." I cried. I cried a lot during that movie. It was brutal. So the UN can't do shit, but there are plenty of other countries who could. Guess what? They don't. The French are the suppliers of the Hutus, but do they stop them? No. They don't do anything. They don't care. At one point European forces (I forget the country) arrive. Everyone is exuberant at the thought of relief from the slaughter. Then the truth comes out...they aren't here to help. They aren't here to stop the Hutus or remove the Tutsi peoples or Hutus who have sympathized with the Tutsis and are therefore in danger as well. They've come...for the white people. Anyone white, that's who they remove. They could care less about anyone else. That made me cry too. It made me want to hate white people. It's just a difference in pigment...we're all human. We're all alive. We're all worth something. Who cares what color we are? I'm super pale. Does that make me better or worse than someone who can actually develop a good tan in the summer? Whatever the color, I can't believe that so many countries just stood by and allowed that genocide to occur. I can't believe someone didn't step in. I'm so disappointed in humanity.
I know that genocide on that level isn't going on today, but it still is. I know so many refugee families from Africa who have fled because their tribe fell out of favor. Suddenly their lives were in danger. There is a man at my church who fled from the Congo I believe. He watched his family be murdered. He had to see that. Hiding in a bush, there was nothing he could do to save them. Can you imagine watching your family be brutally killed? Can you even comprehend that horror? I can't. I'd rather die. Genocide is still going on today. There is so much tragedy all over the world. Hunger, AIDS, genocide, prejudice, poverty, homelessness, lack of water, lack of education, etc. The United States is so blessed. We have so much. Our poorest often have more than the richest in some of these countries.
Look around you. No, you can't stop the genocide in third world countries, but you can do something! So do. Find a way to make a difference. Look in your own city or town and help the homeless there. Make donations to organizations that help countries like Africa. Get involved. I assure you, you can spare some money for these people. They have nothing, literally. Do something, because you can make a difference, but change won't come if no one acts.