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I have a good friend who is a Tutsi Rwandan genocide survivor.  She listened to your show, but because her ordeal was very traumatic, she does not talk about it with many people.

What I have learned from her story, and the small stack of books she gave me to read is very important for us now:  the Rwandan genocide was manufactured and triggered by hate radio.  There were shock jocks, and one in particular, who spewed hateful doctrine against Tutsis, calling them names and saying that they needed to be eliminated.  Because this was tolerated, this vitriolic hate speech was repeated on a daily basis. It made Hutus increasingly hostile and angry.  Then, it escalated to action.  It was the shock jocks who called Hutus to action, and organized them.  The genocidaires tuned into their radios to get the latest information on who to kill and where. 

We need to recognize that we hear this same rhetoric from shock jocks on our own radio stations--recently many right wing commentators have called for the "elimination" of liberals.  Not "liberalism" but "liberals"--as people.  This kind of rhetoric we cannot allow.

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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