By Alexa Telano | Manager of Development
Genocide does not begin with mass graves. It begins with falsehoods repeated until they feel like truth. Neighbors are taught to fear one another. Violence is reframed as a necessity. Scholars of mass atrocity prevention have long warned that the earliest stages of genocide begin with the erosion of democratic norms. Four years ago today, a mob violently breached the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn a certified presidential election, fueled by the false claim that the election had been “stolen.” Symbols of white supremacy and antisemitism were carried, and threats were made against elected officials, all in the guise of patriotism.
While January 6 was not genocide, history offers sobering parallels to mass atrocities. In Weimar Germany in the 1920s and early 1930s, the delegitimization of elections and courts paved the way for authoritarian rule. In Rwanda in 1994, propaganda framed political opponents and minority groups as existential threats, making mass violence seem justified. In the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, nationalist rhetoric hollowed out democratic institutions before ethnic cleansing followed. In each case, mass violence was preceded by the same warning signs: the collapse of shared truth, the scapegoating of “enemies within,” and the erosion of trust in democracy.
The danger lies not only in the violence itself, but in its minimization and repetition. When attacks on democratic institutions are excused or reframed as legitimate dissent, societies edge closer to a point where violence becomes normalized.
At 3 Generations, bearing witness has always meant more than documenting atrocities after they occur. Remembering January 6 through a genocide-prevention lens is not about comparison; it is about vigilance. Bearing witness, again and again, is the first step toward preventing what comes next. For information about the issues we support and to watch our films, please visit 3generations.org, follow us on social media @3_Generations, or subscribe to our mailing list. We thank you for your support; we could not continue this work without you.
By Alexa Telano | Manager of Development
By Alexa Telano | Manager of Development
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