In the book, Fires
of Hatred: Ethnic cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe, by Norman Naimark,
he address the topics of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ethnic cleansing can be
described as a process where certain ethnic, or religious groups, are either killed
or deported because they are not wanted in a certain location. Genocide can be
explained as killing all of the people, or part of the people, that are part of
a certain race, religion, or ethnic group. The topic of race is also discussed
throughout the book. Race has, and always will, have an impact on society;
however the author says that the Ottoman attacks on the Armenians did not have
to do with race. The author wrote, “It would be anachronistic to suggest that
the Ottomans demonstrated racial and ethnic tolerance, because they did not
think at all in those terms” (Naimark, 19). In other words, the Ottomans did
not accept people because of their race, the author wrote on page 19 that
people could be accepted into the Ottoman Elite by converting to Islam and
being loyal to the Ottoman. Although this book is about ethnic cleansing and
genocides, Naimark would not classify this as genocide right away or an ethnic cleansing,
as explained on page 23. The author
explains that the purpose of the Ottoman was to punish instead of get rid of
the whole group. He also stated, “Nor do the events of 1894-96 share the
general characteristics or ethnic cleansing” (Naimark, 23). In other words, the Ottoman’s attack would not
have been labeled as ethnic cleansing either, because the Ottoman was not
trying to move the Armenians they just wanted to control them.
One real-life example I can think of that
relates to this topic is the Chicago Housing Projects. My family and lived in a
high rise apartment building in the Rockwell projects in Chicago. I was too
young to remember fully, but I do remember some things. I remember when the
government tore Rockwell projects down and forced my family to move. The
government built the projects for low income families which were majority
black. They were offering a better way to live that people could afford. But,
the living conditions were horrid and there were not any stores or restaurants
inside the project walls. There were great amounts of poverty, scarce resources,
and a very high crime rate.Living in the projects is kind of like jail because there are criminals, low resources, and you are separated from the rest of the city by walls and high-rise buildings. The government
finally decided to close down every public housing project building in Chicago
one by one and build new condos. They said that the residents that lived in the
projects could live in the new buildings, but they knew that most of the blacks
could not afford to live there. The Rockwell Projects were torn down in 2003,
and my family had no choice but to move. It was me, my mother, and my two
sisters, and we barely had any money to move. The Housing Authority told the
residents of the projects that they would receive vouchers that would enable
them to move to better neighborhoods.
When they finally
destroyed our building the government kept their word and found us somewhere to
live immediately. They moved us to the west side of the city of Chicago, where
my mother said the crime was worse. So, they moved us to another high poverty
and crime infested area. My mother would always say, “At least in the projects
we knew everyone and knew who would commit a crime.” We didn't live on the west
side too long though. We eventually moved to a suburb called Maywood to live with
my aunt. But, the point is that they basically grouped all the poor people
(blacks) together in the projects to separate them from the rest of the city,
but when the government wanted the land back he forced everyone out. However,
some of the people were allowed to stay and live among the majority. The
government’s purpose was not only to keep the minorities together, but also to
control them like the Ottoman did to the Armenian. The only difference is that
the Chicago police or United States Army did not kill any of the Chicago
residents.
Here are a couple links that will further elaborate on the Chicago Housing Projects, and how the government tried to control the minorities that lived in them:
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