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Before the Germans (and later the Belgians) colonized Rwanda, there was no reported violence between the Hutu and Tutsi people. However, European rule in the country changed the relations between the two groups, and laid the groundwork for genocide to occur a century later. 1897 marked the first year that German colonists entered the country. These Germans, convinced that the Tutsi had migrated to Rwanda from Ethiopia, believed that the Tutsi were more Caucasian then the Hutus, and were therefore racially superior and better suited to carry out colonial administrative tasks. This was part of the Hamitic Hypothesis—the Tutsis were taller than the Hutus, had more slender features, and looked more similar to the Europeans.
Making these distinctions is what lead to the distinction of class (hierarchy) that lead to the racism and hatred between the Hutu and Tutsi. They also brought the Hamitic Hypothesis with them stating that Tutsi were superior because they brought civilization to Rwanda from the North were they originated from. Classifying whether or not citizens were Tutsi from birth created a huge gap in ethnic division. By giving Tutsi superiority over jobs and other things this fueled the Hutu’s hatred for the Tutsi. Colonization gave them this superiority because they thought it was theirs by nature,
Oppressive Dynamics In 1994 in the African country of Rwanda, civil war broke loose. There are two major ethnic groups living there, the Hutus and the Tutsis. The Tutsis oppressed the Hutu for many years in the 1960s and believed they were better than them; they made them feel like outcasts in society by taunting them and excluding them from all societal activities. The Hutus eventually rose up through violence and began attacking, attempting to kill every single Tutsi, despite if they had actually done the oppressing themselves.
Rwanda gained its independence from Belgium on 1st July 1962. Prior to its this colonisation, there were two ethnicities living in Rwanda, ‘the Hutus’ and ‘the Tutsis’. The Hutus were mainly farmers made up most of the population, the Tutsis made up between 15-18% and were mainly involved with cattle rearing. During the period of European colonisation, Belgium took over Rwanda and, on doing so, succeeded in creating a massive divide among these people. The Belgians introduced a European class system of hierarchy to Rwanda – the Tutsis who were already “prominently in the royalty” (however still peasants) were favored by the Belgians (History of the Genocide in Rwanda).
Tutsi people regard the Hutus who have been released from the Gacaca Courts, despite carrying out the decided punishment, as being “killers”. Thus, from a justice point of view, the reconciliation efforts are unsuccessful. This feeling of betrayal by the justice system also fosters a sense of paranoia in the Tutsi community as they will not know if the Hutu community will strike again. This ultimately affects the peace and healing process in Rwanda as victims cannot forget the crimes committed against
In the year of 1994 rape was legally recognized as a method of genocide, the members of the Hutu militia raped approximately a million of Tutsi women in the case of the Rwanda genocide. Women’s represented the survival of an ethnic group. When the women’s were raped it was the same as destroying their race or ethnicity. When the Tutsi was royal under the colonial rule the women’s thought of themselves as too good for the Hutu men because they were considered to be more beautiful than Hutu women so because of it the Hutu ethnicity degraded and also their masculinity was insulted. “Rape shattered the image that Tutsi women were too good for Hutu men”.
This week in class we spent time watching and absorbing the movie Hotel Rwanda. This movie depicts how the cultural differences between two african groups that live in the same african region have led to a genocide. These two groups are called the hutus and the tutsis. Both groups have in the past shared their land, however, after a foreign influence, they were seperated into the two different groups. Each group has had their share of oppressing and taking control over the others, however, at the time that this movie is taking place the hutu forces are trying to get rid of the tutsis.
The people also shared a common culture, language and religious beliefs. Once arriving there, Rwandans were divided into Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa, based on strict system of racial classification created by the Belgians and the
Another reason why the Hutus tribe may have caused conflict against the Tutsis is because they wanted authority over their country. Back in the days, countries used to fight each other in order to gain full access to another country. They may have wanted to do this genocide so that they could increase the number of their tribe and so that they could be stronger. The Hutus may have wanted control over many different regions and the Tutsis tribe might have been in their targeted
Rwanda. Rwandan society is comprised of representatives of 3 ethnicities: Hutu (85%), Tutsi (about 14%) and Twa (less than 1%). The 3 groups shared the same language and common membership in the state institutions. When Europeans colonized the country at the end of the 19th century the Tutsi minority exercised control of the government. Berlin Conference of 1884 assigned Rwanda to Germany, and in 1919 it was passed to Belgium.
This made large divides between the two cultures and later many civil conflicts between the groups. In 1994 when the president 's plane was shot down the government and Hutu militants blamed the Tutsis, radio broadcasts across the country encourages Hutus to take revenge and kill the Tutsis, in the end an estimated 800000 to 1 million people died. The globalization of Belgians colony and the scramble for africa through that part of the world into a blood conflict of cultures and terrorist/militant groups that still rages on
All this was caused because of a difference of opinion on who came first. The Hutu were actually there first. When Belgium colonized, they said that the Hutu were more fit to rule. The Germans said that the Tutsi
In April to July of 1994, a populous ethnic group called the Hutu slaughtered at least 800,000 people in Rwanda, Africa. Rwanda was split into three ethnic groups: The Twa, the Hutu, and the Tutsi. Majority of the people of Rwanda were Hutu, and the minority were the Tutsi. Although the Tutsi were the minority, the overall rule of the Kingdom of Rwanda were Tutsi. When Belgium received control over Rwanda, they invented an identification system to the people.
Rwanda has a history of deep rooted conflict which originates back to when it was once a colony of Germany. Once it became a colony of Belgium after world war one this conflict also came with it, The conflict that exists is thus of two ethnic tribal groups the; Hutus and the Tutsis and their strong hatred of one another. Rwandans myths seems to indicate that Hutu and Tutsi identities did exist before the colonization but the hatred of two predominate ethnic tribal groups of one another only came into existence after colonization. This conflict between them has nothing to with religion, race or language it is to do with territory and the ownership of Rwanda. It is because of the colonies exploitation and classification of the Rwandan people into“an ethnic group” that the conflict seemed to come to a head.
By creating this imposition of power between the two Indigenous groups, it created several problems in the near future. After World War I, Germany gave Rwanda over to Belgium. As Belgium started to take over Rwanda, they still give the Tutsis the power, higher status and key positions. To tell the two groups apart, they had to carry identification cards telling whether they were a Hutu or a Tutsi. By doing this it shows that you couldn 't really tell the two apart, but the Europeans wanted to create an inequality, as they treated the Tutsis as more superior.
