Although Tutsi and Hutu have been living a lifelong battle they are very similar because they speak the same language, intermarrying and even lived as neighbors (Stratus, 2006). It was much more common to see Tutsi women to be married to Hutu men than to find Hutu women married to Tutsi men, therefore a Hutu man married to a Tutsi woman gave birth to legally Hutu. Marriage between Hutu men and Tutsi women had the full benefits of Hutu citizenship to progeny and this was perceived as racially impure (Taylor, 2008). Colonialist could not believe that the Tutsi and Hutu were of the same tribe, they even believed that the Tutsi were no African. They began looking for scientific answers to understand the differences in height, nose and forehead size of Tutsi, at the end German anthropologists concluded that the Tutsi and the Hutu were of the same race and that there was no morphological difference between them, Belgians however, maintain the belief that they were different (Berry &ump; Pott, 1999). Tutsi and Hutus are very similar thus categorizing then as different was a very crucial misunderstanding between them when Belgians recognized Tutsis as being the top tribe to rule Rwanda. Hutus gained control of Rwanda after independence with this giving them the power to undermine Tutsis as continued to believe that Hutus took their places in secondary and higher teaching institutions as well as employment and private sector. Hutu believed that by forbidding Tutsis to educate themselves and actively play in government or military they would marginalize them minimizing their participation in society. Who was the better race? There is a long history of the differences they had to grow up with however, one day this “difference“ becam... ... middle of paper ... ...appened because of a variety of reasons; long struggle of the Hutu, knowing that they were different and a bane aspiration to being able to be placed in an important place in society, holding a good position in government or in Church, for example. However, greed was not the reason for the killings. Perpetrators were poor, as poor as their victims were and neither the killings started in the poorest regions of Rwanda (Stratus, 2006). Now, focusing on religion to Rwandans Religion became so important because they became aware of “something bigger than themselves”, understanding that with God everything is possible, they realised that their life must had a meaning. Faith was obviously their food, the source of the strength that kept motivating them to commit the “work”. Now, they forgive, now they ask for forgiveness and once again, the power of religion is upon them.
When people temporary gather in a public place and members might interact, but do not identify with each other and will not remain in contact that is a crowd (Ferris & Stein, 152), however I believe that the Hutus represent more of a group, which is a collection of people who share some attribute, identify with one another, and interact with each other (Ferris & Stein, 152). Most of the Hutus worked together and continue to make contact with one another to keep the fighting going, where as I see the Tutsi’s being more of a group until they started to fight back. The Hutus and Tutsis made their own subculture because they differentiated by their own distinctive values, norms and lifestyle (Ferris & Stein, 107). They made it so murder is okay, as long as it is the Tutsi side that is being killed. The Hutu celebrate when they kill hundreds of Tutsi or use them as slaves. All this fighting is over something they cannot control, their ascribed status. Ascribed status is an inborn status, usually difficult or impossible to change (Ferris & Stein, 142). They do not get to control who they are, and only the choices they make changes them as a person. The Hutu do not see it as this way though. They believe that because of this status they keep getting the shorter end of the stick so
He places a lot of his emphasis on fear and intimidation as the main drivers of the violence and says that no matter what reason perpetrators gave for their individual participation, there was one main rationale that drove genocidal violence. That one rationale was that the violence occurred in the following way: “the RPF killed President Habyarimana; RPF soldiers had invaded to kill Hutus; all Tutsis were RPF supporters or potential supporters; ergo, Hutus had to kill Tutsis to prevent being attacked by them” (Straus 153). The most common reason respondents stated was the cause of the genocide was the death of their president, but some said it was because elites desired power. As a reader, it is hard to understand why perpetrators chose to kill people who did not pose any immediate threats when the perpetrators themselves feared insecurity. The Hutus believed that the Tutsis wanted to take back their power so the Hutu extremists had a goal of terminating them, but it is still difficult to interpret the happenings of the genocide because there were so many dynamics. But regardless of all that went on, in sum, The Order of Genocide maintains that three dynamics lead to the killing: war, race, and power. Without a war in Rwanda, the genocide may have just been unable to take place. But the war resulted in “fear, insecurity, rage, revenge, and self-defense” and tensed up the country to perform violent acts of killing (Straus, 173-174). Race allowed all Tutsis to be labeled as the enemy. And finally, power gave hardliners an ability of control to issue the elimination of all Tutsis and authorize the
It was hard for me to believe that something like this could happen, and it take so long for this country to get help. Immaculee’s family consisted for her father Leonard, who was a farm owner and was well respected within the community Kigali. Tutsi’s and Hutu’s looked up to him, her mother Marie Rose was a school teacher, her oldest brother Aimable attended boarding school, second oldest Demascene a brilliant scholar who earned his master’s, and the youngest brother Vianney. During the 1994 genocide Immaculee lost her entire family except for her brother Aimable who was off miles away in school. It was unbelievable how the people you once considered your friends, you offered advice to, and even helped out financial could turn their backs on you because of your ethnic make-up was a Tutsi. I learned that a country that is controlled by a government that lacks knowledge will only create disaster. Disaster that can spread amongst a community and create hate, separation among individuals, and cause people to kill innocent individuals because of their ethnic make-up. It amazed me at just how influential the government was to have Hutu’s hate and kill their Tutsi neighbors whom they once
In the early 20st century a horrific genocide occurred between two African groups of people in Rwanda. In the early 1900’s Rwanda was colonized by Belgium and France but by Belgium missionaries. There were two main African clans in Rwanda at the time and that was the Tutsi’s and the Hutu’s. The Belgium missionaries gave power to the church. Many Africans that were practicing African traditional religions soon were converted to catholic Christians. The Belgium missionaries chose the Tutsi clan as being “elite” because of their physical appearance over the Hutus. The Tutsi people had narrower noses, thinner lips, and lighter skin and were labeled as being “white” and the Hutu’s had wider noses, fuller lips, and were considered to be “black” between
Before Rwanda had been colonized, the Tutsis and Hutus lived coexistent lifestyles, they were unconnected indigenous groups that survived together without dislike towards each other. Some Tutsis and Hutus were local chiefs within Rwanda, and during this time there was no judgment or conflicts between the groups. After World War I, Belgium had claimed Rwanda as a colony and acknowledged the Tutsis as the natural born leaders of the country. All of the light skinned Tutsis were given Identity cards in order to distinguish them from the “low class” Hutus. At this time, racial pressures arose as the Hutus were beginning to be mistreated.
The Rwandan Genocide was a terrible event in history caused by a constantly weakening relationship between two groups of people. The country of Rwanda is located in Africa and consists of multiple groups of people. Majority of Rwanda is Hutu, while a smaller amount of people are Tutsis. The genocide started due to multiple events that really stretched the relationship between the two groups to its end. One of the starting factors was at the end of World War 1. Rwanda was a German colony but then was given to Belgium “who favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated[exacerbating] the tendency of the few to oppress the many”(History.com). This created a feeling of anger towards the Tutsis, because they had much more power then Hutus.
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
After going some of their darkest times, the people of Rwanda learned that nothing good came out of the genocide; nothing got better. Despite all the horrors that they had been through, Rwandans didn’t disperse to new lands or try to finish what was started, instead, they rose from the ashes and became one united force. They forgave those who had done wrong. Immaculee is a prime example of this. She met one of the Hutus who had brutally murdered her family, and even attempted to kill her. “I flinched, letting out an involuntary gasp. Semana looked at me, stunned by my reaction and confused by the tears streaming down my face. He grabbed Felicien (the killer) by the shirt collar and hauled him to his feet. “What do you have to say to her? What do you have to say to Immaculee?” Felicien was sobbing. I could feel his shame. He looked up at me for only a moment, but our eyes met. I reached out, touched his hands lightly, and quietly said what I’d come to say. “I forgive you.””. Kindness like this in the aftermath ended up being much more common than one might suspect. Everybody was tired of the hurt, tired of the pain, so they did the only other thing they could think of… forgive. The Rwandan Genocide in all is such an empowering event because of how devastating it was. There was so much hate, anger, and grief that consumed these people to commit such saddening acts. The genocide serves in
In the Maasai society, genital cutting is a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, and both men and women go through the process of circumcision. As society ages, opinions on cultural norms change. This is true for the Maasai society, where the views on female circumcision have and are changing. Female circumcision is classified into three categories, and defined by the World Health Organization, Type I is the removal of the foreskin on the vagina, Type II is the removal of the clitoris, and Type III is the removal of all external genitalia with the stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening (“New Study”). Traditionally in the Maasai society, women underwent Type II or Type III circumcision. Written in 1988, “The Initiation of a Maasai Warrior,” by Tepilit Ole Saitoi, and is an autobiographical story of Saitoti’s circumcision in his initiation to a warrior. Though his story mainly focuses on the male circumcision part of the Maasai society, women’s circumcision and other basic traditions are discussed. Throughout the short story, the topic of circumcision and the rite of passage, both long- standing traditions in the Maasai society, are central themes.
Tutsis are related to the Masai and the people along the Nile, while the Hutus
The book Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak: A Report by Jean Herzfeld presented several statements from an interviewed conducted with the nine Hutu killers who contributed to killing over 50,000 Tutsis communities with machetes. Throughout the book, these nine killers narrated their experience/opinion on several topics asked how the Rwanda genocide began to how they participated in the genocide. For those who do not have prior knowledge of the history regarding the Tutsis and Hutus, one may wonder why would Hutus participate in violent acts against the Tutsis. In addition, question how could these people continuously harm this same group of people, especially when the victims are people they know or seen before. Based on the different
The Rwandan genocide occurred due to the extreme divide between two main groups that were prevalent in Rwanda, the Hutu and the Tutsi. When Rwanda was first settled, the term Tutsi was used to describe those people who owned the most livestock. After the Germans lost control over their colonies after World War I, the Belgians took over and the terms Hutu and Tutsi took on a racial role (Desforges). It soon became mandatory to have an identification card that specified whether or not an individual was a Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa (a minority group in Rwanda). The Tutsi soon gained power through the grant of leadership positions by the Belgians. Later on when Rwanda was tying to gain indepe...
...ause the colonial masters believed that they resembled them. It was unethical for the Belgians to interfere with the peaceful coexistence that the two communities had enjoyed in the past. As a result, the Hutus acquired negative misconceptions about the Tutsis’ origin, what they stood for, and what they had done for them in the past. The Hutus expertly planned and organized the Rwandan genocide as a result of such historical distortions created by their country’s colonial masters.
Under the Hutu’s government reign the people of Rwanda voted to become a republic. A year later on July 1, 1962 Ruanda-Urandi became two separate countries. Though Belgium was no longer in power over Rwanda, ethnic dissension continued to affect the people. At independence a Hutu was elected, and later on another Hutu whom favored his ethnicity came into power. Hutu’s continued to dominate the governme...
conflicts still arose between the Tutsi and the Hutu and there were genocides and a