American Imperialism In Rwanda Essay

Due to the European power’s imperialism on Africa it had sparked many events leading to the genocide of Rwanda. The Belgium’s rule of Rwanda and the Belgium’s favoring the Tutsis over the Hutus because the Tutsis was more white caused tension between the two ethnic group which ultimate caused genocide to happen in Rwanda. The human rights that were violated during the genocide has greatly impacted the state of life the people of Rwanda will

In 1994, genocide unfolded in Rwanda claiming the lives of more than 700,000 Tutsi massacred at the hands of Hutu extremist, while the entire world stood by and watched. Some would argue this event was a result of civil unrest between the Tutsi and Hutu stemming from ancient

Before Rwanda became an independent African run country, it was under Belgian control. In the 1930s Belgium imposed indirect rule and put Tutsis in control of government. The Belgians did not invent the two ethnic groups, Hutu and Tutsi, but colonial intervention enforced a new meaning for the two ethnicities and thus engrained a hierarchy among the Rwandans . The Tutsis could be determined by their taller slighter build, lighter skin and thinner noses; in conclusion, they were the whitest Africans . By 1994 the two groups were visibly indistinguishable because of mixed parentage. This is portrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda when a journalist asks two women what ethnicity they are; he discovers that one is Hutu and the other Tutsi. The journalist replies that the women could be twins. In the 1950s the newly established United Nations began to pressure Belgium to vacate Rwanda. Belgium introduced reforms to increase Hutu representation in politics, so from the 1950s until 1962, when Rwanda achieved independence a Hutu movement was born. The Hutu movement was gaining momentum and national recognition; the violence conducted during this period forced thousands of Tutsis to leave the country. In 1961 Belgium sponsored the federal election and a Hutu man, Gregoire Kayibanda was elected to power. This Hutu revolution excluded Tutsis from government and military. Kayibanda’s successor,

After the atrocities of the Rwandan Genocide and the lack on international intervention, Rwandan was forced to rebuild itself from scratch. Rwanda is a small country located in central Africa. Its population is divided between two ethnic groups: the hutus and the tutsis. The roots of the Rwandan genocide date back to 1924 when Belgium first took over Rwanda, formally a part of Tanzania. The Belgians viewed Tutsi superior to the hutus. Many referred to this as Hamitic hypothesis. It was motivated mainly by the fact that Tutsi were taller and thinner than hutus. This lead to a major boost in Tutsi egos and mistreatment of the Hutus for decades. This angered the Hutus leading to a major conflict between the two ethnic groups.

In the late 1800s Africa was divided amongst the Europeans and Rwanda became colonised by Germany, however after WW1 Belgian forces occupied Rwanda. The Belgian found the Tutsi tribe easier to get along with so in 1993 ethnic identity card were introduced to ensure most of the jobs and education went to the Tutsi’s. In the late 1950s the Hutu’s being 85% of the population called for a change in Rwanda's power structure to give them a voice. Belgian decided to side with the Hutu’s and the Tutsi King was overthrown resulting in many Tutsi’s fleeing and becoming unwanted refugee’s in neighbouring counties like Uganda.

During this period of time, 10,000 people were murdered each day and more than 6 men, women and children were murdered every minute every day. This kept going for about 3 months.

According to the book Peacemaking in Rwanda, Hutus and Tutsis had prior hate towards one another due to “wealth, military prowess, family, and control over a precious commodity, or occupation of a prestigious social position.” (Jones, pg. 18) This meant at any time my children that Tutsis could become Hutus and Hutus could become Tutsis. Due to this my children, I come before to tell you never to hate your very own people. Clan lineage in Rwanda was were, power and status placed a role in the leading of the people as that determined who was a high authority amongst the different yet similar clans. While clan lineage played a role in who would lead the different clans, Rwanda before World War I was colonized by Germans. Sadly my kids, after World War I colonization moved on to the Belgium and this is was the day, when I saw my life flash before my eyes. The once peaceful Rwanda had changed within a day. When the Belgium came into power they “imposed on the contrary an intellectual and administrative simplification that equated “Tutsi’s” with “ruling class”.”(Jones, pg. 19) Throughout the Belgium ruling, Tutsis were the chosen ones to do all of the administrative work for the League of Nations Mandate. Due to this Belgium’s required for Tutsis to carry around cards that specifically showed and

Everything begun in the 1300s when the Tutsi became apart of what was called Rwanda at the time. The Tutsi was under the Hutu and TWA control. 85% of the population was Hutu’s, followed by the Tutsi’s, with a small number of TWA who was a pygmy group basically the original citizens of Rwanda. Around the 1600s King Ndori got the upper hand of the central Rwanda and removed some of Hutu areas. In the late 1800s Rwanda became part of the German east Africa. Before Belgians takes over Rwanda in the 1916 the Britain and Germany agreed to set boundaries that separated the German east Africa. In 1921 Rwanda was handed over to the England. July 25th 1959 King Mutara III. Monarch of Rwanda died. Also the Tutsi ruler was removed by the Hutu Majority. Around 20,000 Tutsi People was killed. Which forced the King to exile. During this time a revolution of the Hutu’s forced as many as 300,000 Tutsi’s to flee the country, making and even smaller minority. By the early 1961 the Hutu’s forces Rwanda Tutsi’s monarch into exile and declare republic.

Since the instrumentalists who created this ethnic divide did so bases on biological features it would be easy to assume that the Rwandan problem was a primodialist one. However, even with the identification cards and apparent physical differences between the two groups I still believe that this issue was created rather than imbedded. While there were differences between the two groups of people they were pushed into conflict by their colonial parents, with one group being seen as better and being put on top, and another being oppressed. These colonial powers gave the Tutsis the authority to dominate and control the Hutus.

For years, Rwanda has been a hotbed of racial tension. The majority of the Rwandan population is made up of Hutu's, with Tutsi's making up the rest of it. Ever since European colonial powers entered the country and favoured the Tutsi ethnic group over the Hutu by putting Tutsi people in all important positions in society, there has been a decisive political divide between the two groups. This favouring of the Tutsi over the Hutu, and the Hutu subjugation as an ethnic lower class resulted in the civil war and revolution of 1959, where the Hutu overthrew the Tutsi dominated government, and resulted in Rwanda gaining their independence in 1962.

To really understand the Rwandan Genocide and the Final Solution, one must understand the background of the two exterminated peoples. The Tutsis are an ethnic group that resides in the African Great Lakes region. During the Europeans settlements in Rwanda, the colonists need an identifier to separate the population of Rwanda. Belgium settlers defined “Tutsi”

Genocide is the destruction of a cultural, racial or political group through the use of “..one-sided mass killings..(Hintjens 267).” The April of 1994, “Rwandan subjects and citizens were the main actors in the genocide (Hintjens 244).” The establishment of colonial rule by the Europeans impacted the conflict in Rwanda due to the creation of ethnic boundaries between the Tutsis and the Hutus. Hierarchies were established based upon European racial theories. Throughout the colonization and independence of Rwanda, the tension generated by European intervention only magnified thus leading to quotas and ineffective regulations. Aside from the assassination of the Rwandan President Habyarimana, propaganda through

The Rwandan 1994 genocide was an absolute tragedy in African history. Before reading this book, I didn’t know much about it. I knew that there was a war in a small African country where a whole ethnic group was almost wiped out. I knew that there was a woman who had to stay hiding in a tiny bathroom for three months along with several other women. I had this information because in my fifth grade English class we were reading The Diary of Anne Frank and her story about the Jewish Holocaust. Immaculee Ilibagiza, the author and narrator of the book, was just made an American citizen, so we spent the whole class reading about her life and her journey throughout the Rwandan Holocaust. Before reading this book, I had no knowledge of the country,

Many were killed and had to be buried in mass graves due to the corpses in mass amounts (“Genocide”). The few survivors lost their families, homes, friends, and suffered awful health complications. Many survivors already lived in poverty, but now lived in unpropitious poverty. Survivors also had to undergo severe trauma from their horrific experiences. They had to reconstruct their lives as well as the city they knew and loved. These people subsided the awful treachery they had endured and united as a community to rebuild their homeland. Although, ten years after the genocide, ethnic relations in Rwanda remained tense (Genocide & Persecution Rwanda 39). Signs of genocide are still everywhere today and the effects of this tragedy are

Prior to colonial era, Rwanda had larger population of Hutus compared to Tutsis and Twa. Rwanda as a country was divided into three ethnic groups i.e. Hutu (approximately about 85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%) (United Nations). Although, Tutsis were the minorities, they belonged to the higher strata compared to the other ethnic groups; Tutsis were privileged and had power and control over the Hutus and Twas. “Hutus were formerly bound to their Tutsi patrons via client ship” (Sinema, 2012). When Rwanda was colonized by Germany followed by Belgium, they favored Tutsis as they represented the upper class prior to the colonization. These created a social system like feudal system where there was a power difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Tutsis were considered as lord and the Hutus on the other hand, were considered as peasants. As a consequence, this created an ethic tension between the Hutus and the Tutsis and created a system more like apartheid. Nonetheless, they managed to co exist in Rwanda until they were decolonized. Although there is no social distinction between the Hutus and the Tutsis, the conflict between these tribes increased tremendously after the independence from Belgian that led to mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi by the Hutu.