MetaFilter posts tagged with massacres

Scorched huts and crushed skulls

IvoShandor — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:46:50 -0800

"The Lord’s Resistance Army is now on the loose, moving from village to village, seemingly unhindered, leaving a wake of scorched huts and crushed skulls. Witnesses say the fighters have kidnapped hundreds of children and marched them off into the bush, the latest conscripts in their slave army." Apparently, Ugandan and Congolese forces failed to seal off rebel escape routes and heavy fog took away the element of surprise in what was to be the death blow for rebel resistance in the ongoing violence in Uganda. The result was that the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group led by accused war criminal Joseph Kony, adhered to their standard operating procedure and began slaughtering civilians, many of which had no knowledge of who their attackers were. No U.S. troops were involved in on the ground fighting, at least according to the Times article, but by all accounts this operation was botched. These massacres are nothing new. And there are those who aim to stop it .

Massacre in Rock Springs

IvoShandor — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:52:01 -0800

September 2, 1885, Rock Springs, Wyoming (horrible music warning). A mining town on the frontier, the Rock Springs of 1885 was consumed with race and labor tensions, and witnessed an unparalleled event during the history of Chinese-Americans in the U.S. west. The little known Rock Springs Massacre, was perpetuated by white miners on Chinese miners and left at least 28 of the latter dead and dismembered. The slaughter was fueled mostly by racial prejudice but an ongoing labor dispute involving Union Pacific's coal company also played a significant role. The Chinese miners that survived described a harrowing scene:

"Some of the Chinese were killed at the bank of Bitter Creek, some near the railroad bridge, and some in “Chinatown.” After having been killed, the dead bodies of some were carried to the burning buildings and thrown into the flames. Some of the Chinese who had hid themselves in the houses were killed and their bodies burned; some, who on account of sickness could not run, were burned alive in the houses. One Chinese was killed in “Whitemen’s Town” in a laundry house, and his house demolished. The whole number of Chinese killed was twenty-eight and those wounded fifteen."

The massacre was big news, even then, coverage appeared in the New York Times a few days later. Notably, the local paper, the Rock Springs Independent, essentially endorsed the outcome of the murders in Rock Springs. The literature on the massacre is pretty sparse, even behind database walls like JSTOR. There have been some works done on it though, Craig Storti's 1990 book comes to mind. The massacre receives passing mention here, here, and here, among other places. There are a few other works on the subject, including older ones. Wikipedia has some good info too.

Saved by Islam.

languagehat — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 12:15:16 -0800

Rwandans turn toward Islam. A NY Times story (reg. req.) describes how Islam has become the fastest-growing religion in Rwanda, partly because people are disgusted with the priests and nuns who helped with the killing ten years ago, partly because Muslims saved many people at that time.

Muslim leaders credit the gains to their ability during the 1994 massacres to shield most Muslims, and many other Rwandans, from certain death. "The Muslims handled themselves well in '94, and I wanted to be like them," said Alex Rutiririza, explaining why he converted to Islam last year.

Food for thought for those who think of Islam as a "religion of violence."

HeikoH — Fri, 26 Apr 2002 07:35:49 -0800

worse than littleton.