An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina

My latest Resistance Read is An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina. Paul is better known as the man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda. This is the story of his time in Rwanda, before and during the 1994 genocide there, told from his perspective. Paul is an intelligent, well-spoken well educated man who is able to not only tell his own story and that of his friends and neighbors in a compelling way, but also to extrapolate greater issues behind the events that happened, draw comparisons to other events around the world, discuss the colonial history that led up to and contributed to these events, and hypothesize about future events, based on the progress of issues so far. 

It’s terrifying to hear how seemingly quietly and easily his country slipped down the slippery slope, from class and ethnic tensions to brutal, intentional, terrifyingly efficient genocide. How the government-sponsored media gradually, effectively spread the flames of hatred and encourage and abetted the violence. How the world just turned its back to ignore the inconvenient events happening in Rwanda. How neighbors and friends, ministers and congregants, public officials and their citizens, even husbands and wives could turn against each other, in the most horrifically brutal fashion imaginable. It was also fascinating to see what patience and calm conversation, as well as some alcohol and some well-placed bribery and sometimes the reminders of favors owed, could do to spare the lives of at least a fraction of those slaughtered. Paul remarks multiple times throughout his story that he and his actions were not extraordinary. That what he did manage to achieve seems so small in comparison to the death toll of that brief time. And that others did what he did, in their own ways and to their own capacity, without the recognition that his socioeconomic position and status gained him.

It's difficult to read Paul’s story and hear how his country went from tensions to violence so completely and so relatively quickly without feeling some concern about parallels to our own country’s growing political division and hostility. But perhaps we should take a page from Paul’s advice as well. He strongly urges conversation between opposing factions. He says that if one truly listens to and talks with someone, even if both parties still disagree, it is difficult not to see them as human, as real people with real concerns. The silence between factions and refusal to dialog about issues of ethnic tension and injustice were a contributing factor to the genocide in his country, but they aren't helpful to any country functioning properly. When we cease to see others as humans, as neighbors and friends and coworkers, but instead see them as “other”, it becomes easier to imagine the formerly unthinkable, to treat them in ways we would not treat those we know and care about. And nothing good can come from that.

“He [Mugesera] was preaching an ideology—and an identity—based on nothing more than a belief in the murderous intentions of the enemy....That was merely the cover story, the cheap trick that could rouse a mob into supporting the strong men. And that was the true purpose of all the revolutionary rhetoric: It was all about Habyarimana and the rest of the elite trying to keep a grip on the reins of government....It was a revolution, all right, but there was nobody to overthrow. The Hutu government wanted all the anger in Rwanda pointed towards any target but itself.”