National Genocide Awareness Day

"Again, this was my perception; but when I was using the word genocide, I was not realizing that there was a real genocide." Boutros Boutros-Ghali

The leaders of genocide often refer to the population as "us" and "them", exemplifying the division between the perpetrators and victims of a genocide. The goal of genocide is to silence the voice of its victims, and empower those who take part in the blood spill. Even after the world vowed "never again" after the Holocaust, genocides have ravaged countries such as Sudan, Cambodia, China, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda, massacring staggering amounts of civilians to the point of near elimination.

Although many Americans are outspoken against genocide in theory, in practice they rarely have the time or encouragement to truly grasp the devastation of genocide, or to understand the ways in which it may be prevented.

Americans have been isolated from much of the world because of our fortunate economic situation, as well as our security, which we take for granted. In many other sections of the globe, violence and denial of rights may force people out of their homes, and even away from their cultural identities.

Yet, despite the multiple media coverages on the annihilation of genocide, and the suffering of refugees, the majority of America can turn off the TV or shut the magazine and refocus on their lives... their jobs, families, food, and homes: the main things that the victims of genocide lack. Americans know this, they simply do not know how to react.

Unconsciously, we are branding the labels "us" and "them" to further ourselves from the victims of genocide; to push away a reality that is almost too horrible to perceive. We, as people of America, need to delve ourselves into the tragedies of the people of any culture, and this can be done by a National Genocide Awareness Day. An entire day devoted to fighting genocide will impress the importance of this timeless, worldwide, human epidemic.

Thank you for reading this.