Cultural Genocide

Genocide is always characterized as murdering massive populations of a specific ethnic group of people.

However, a specific nation state trying to destroy a culture is a form of genocide. If a country is destroying a culture, making it untenable by destroying the institutions that transmit it, then such country is guilty of genocide.

A country that burns books, steals museum artifacts, and bombs archives, libraries, schools, universities, and publishing houses, disallowing indigenous languages and customs, assimilation, acculturation, negative scapegoating, racism, discrimination, and targeted stereotyping to purposefully create a lack of sense of belonging for the targeted ethnic group are all forms of cultural genocide.

Should there be a broader definition of genocide, emphasizing cultural destruction alongside physical violence?

Cultural erasure are serious, and in international law, cultural genocide is often discussed alongside physical genocide.

Here are just a few historical examples of cultural erasure...

Residential Schools for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

Aboriginal Stolen Generations in Australia

Suppression of Native American Languages in Canada and USA

Cultural Revolution in China sought to eradicate traditional Chinese culture, including Confucianism, Buddhism, and folk practices.

Religious Conversion of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America, Central America, and North America.

Kurdish Identity Suppression in Turkey, the Turkish government policy of assimilation.

Banning of Traditional African Religions during Colonial Africa.