African genocide

IN an otherwise interesting piece on System of a Down’s attempts to publicize the Armenian Genocide [“From a Survivor to the Screamers,” Dec. 6], Robin Abcarian makes the claim that the Armenian genocide was the “granddaddy ... of all modern genocides” and directly influenced what came after.

While it is important to acknowledge the horrendous event’s importance, the author does a disservice by ignoring the genocide of the Herero people of South West Africa (now Namibia) by German colonists from 1904 to 1907, which many historians argue was the first genocide of the 20th century.

ZACHARIAH CHERIAN MAMPILLY

Los Angeles