Sunday, February 3, 2019

Sydney Ewing- Ten Children Killed for Rituals

Ten children (age 2-9) in Tanzania were kidnapped while their parents were selling food at market. The children were found dead and were killed for their body parts. Their ears, teeth and genitals were removed along with some having missing limbs. Authorities believe that witchcraft may have been the motivation for these kidnappings, as some witch doctors in the area claim that these body parts can attract money and good fortune. At the market a limb can be around $2,000 up to a corpse, which can be around $75,000. Authorities state that these murders are separate from the killings of albinos in the country.

A horrific story we have today. Murders such as these are not unfamiliar in Tanzania, as albinos are also sought out because they are believed to be cursed. The unfortunate economic situation of many people in Tanzania has led them to seek out rituals in order to gain wealth and good fortune, and a lack of education makes it more difficult for people to find work and makes it easier for them to fall victim to the claims of witchdoctors. I believe that it was some behavior such as this that made it simple for many Europeans to convince themselves of a Social Darwinistic superiority to Africans. As a result of this, Social Darwinism rooted itself in several forms through American history, from the justification of slavery and racism to the justification of the massive division of wealth during the Gilded Age. I suppose maybe a more direct similarity is that we did have the Salem Witch Trials here and they were a result of economic disparity as well. Anyways, I really don't have much else to say about this story. It is disgusting.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ten-children-in-tanzania-kidnapped-and-killed-for-their-body-parts-authorities-say.amp

1 comment:

  1. It’s sad that Africans can find it upon themselves to think they are better than their own people after what has happened to us. When will people learn that the human race comes in all different colors shapes and sizes and that were all equal

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