The Responsibility For The Disregard Of Africa's Culture

During the 1800s, Europeans had a great desire to take over the colonization of Africa completely. This imperialism changed the way the African people lived, entirely. All ways of life, political organizations, and social structures were adjusted due to the large effects the Europeans had on the countries. However, one of the biggest changes was the European-dominated hierarchies and the arrival of Christianity, and Western ideals spread throughout Africa. However, the primary driving force behind European imperialism in Africa is the relentless pursuit of Africa’s abundance of raw materials to share among their countries.

Europeans filled in the blanks of African history by using exoticism to come up with origin theories that made sense to them. Because the African population has a different physical appearance than Europeans, they were viewed as the “other” race, and therefore were inferior in the minds of Europeans. Africa, however, was a society that was equally as complex as any European nation, unique with their own kingdoms and customs. Because of this, it was incorrect for Europeans to label Africans as “savage” individuals. Africa’s culture is rich and deserves to be interpreted in the way that they see fit, rather than having European stereotypes of the past define their culture of

From 1880 to 1900, Africa was split in many colonies by several different European countries. This was called the “Scramble for Africa. Because Africa didn’t have all of the technology that the Europeans possessed, the Europeans deemed them “uncivilized.” They took it upon themselves to colonize their land, disregarding their set tribes and customs. Although attempting to seem helpful, Europeans had their own selfish reasons for renovating Africa and its traditions.

In 1885, European superpowers got together to divide up the continent of Africa for the colonization of the countries. Among them, Belgium had received the country of Rwanda. The practice of colonialism was common during the time period as European nations feigned to extract natural resources from African countries which were seen as gold mines. Being outnumbered, the Belgians knew they would have to find ways to maintain power in Rwanda. In doing so, they implemented this by dividing the indigenous people of Rwanda through the means of hegemonic racism. Those with dark skin, wide noses, and short were labeled as Hutus, while those who fit the European ideal of beauty with a lighter skin tone, tall, and smaller noses were labeled as Tutsis. While Belgium held power over Rwanda, they deemed the Tutsis as the superior race despite them being the minority race and gave them positions of power over the Hutus. However, on November 1959 the Hutus formed a rebellion and gained independence from Belgium. The dynamics of the hierarchy of privilege quickly changed as the Hutus were on the top and the Tutsis became the oppressed and many fled the country. Although the dreadful reign of colonialism was over, it’s everlasting effects still haunted the country of Rwanda, which is prevalent in the film Hotel Rwanda that depicts the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. In the film Hotel Rwanda, social stratification, racism, and gift giving are heavily prevalent.

Europeans colonization stripped Africans of their culture and ability to express themselves. Document 5, illustrates the cultural bondage that Africa was stuck in due to colonization. Being tied in European cultural hindered African from stating their beliefs and

This investigation studies two of the causes of the 1994 genocide of Rwanda. The two causes are examined in order to see to what extent each contributed to the genocide. The social and ethnic conflicts between two Rwandan groups called the Hutus and the Tutsis caused violent disputes and riots. The assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana is often thought of as the event that sparked the mass murders. Did the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana influence the Rwandan genocide of 1994 more than the ongoing social and ethnic conflicts?

Rwanda is a country located in the middle of the African continent. The two ethnic groups present in the country lived in peace under their monarch until the arrival of Europeans. The Belgians arrival into Rwandan is what split the two ethnic groups of the Tutsi and Hutus, making them identify themselves with ID cards. This caused tension between the two groups as the Belgians favored the ethnic Tutsi, and made them the head of the government. Decade’s later Hutu extremists would take over the government and have revenge on the Tutsi. The new government would send out broadcasts calling on Hutus to kill their friends and neighbors. The Rwandan genocide would become the worst genocide to ever happen in Africa and one of the worst in the world. Today Rwanda’s recovery is surprisingly fast with the help of multiple nations and organizations. Rwanda’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle and is an amazing story of a war between two peoples.

Rwanda has almost always been somewhat of a melting pot, much like other African nations. People of various ethnicities, occupations, and social classes lived in the country without much more trouble than the surrounding nations. Even so, much like other nations, Rwanda still had underlying issues beneath the surface that still had to be faced. Beginning on April 9th, 1994, the genocide had begun, leading to a systematic killing of over 800,000 Rwandans. For what reason were these people killed to begin with? Each of these people were killed for being either Tutsi, an upper-classed ethnic group in the nation, or for refusing to partake in the barbaric bloodletting. After the confrontations between the “upper class” Tutsi and the

It is important to note that Eurocentrism is not some sinister entity or collective, orchestrating a master plan to brainwash everyone. There are positives and negatives to having a Eurocentric viewpoint, but for the sake of this piece I will be focusing on the points of western culture that had an influence on African history.

Just like James Ferguson said “Western societies have found in Africa a radical other for their own constructions of civilization, enlightenment, progress, development, modernity, and, indeed, history” Africa was a place that was seen as a means to judge the standards of western progress and culture (Ferguson 2). This meant that Africa and the people who lived there were reduced to a lower standing on the social ladder. Africa was a testing ground for western nations to test their ability to bring culture to the uncultured. Even today most of the world judges their way of life, their culture, and prosperity based on how they compare to a 3rd world country like Africa.

Africa is a different continent thanks to colonization, mostly thanks to shifts in culture caused by the direct control, cultural examples, and technological temptation. Resnick examines this phenomenon and truly shows just how much we can leave behind while looking for the

Twenty years ago in the small east African country of Rwanda, eight hundred thousand people, mostly those of the Tutsi tribe, were slaughtered by their own government. The Hutu and the Tutsi tribes followed the same traditions and inhabited the same territory for over a thousand years. The rise of conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu dates back to 1918, when the Germans lost their colonies following World War I, and the Belgians took control of Rwanda. In 1933, the Belgians establish the superiority of the "Tutsi" over the "Hutu" which lead to a great divide between these two groups (Admin of PBS.org). When the Belgians handed over power to the Hutu majority, a deep resentment of

Beginning in 1880, there was a growing desire for European countries to expand and control their rule. The only continent at that time that was left uncontrolled and, in the European's eyes uncivilized, was Africa. This was the start of Western Imperialism. All European countries wanted their piece of Africa and to get it, they would let nothing stand in their way. They would change the entire government, religion, market, and behavior of most of the African nation and affect almost every person living there. An account of the impact of Imperialism is given in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. This book shows the changes that occurred in Africa during Imperialism and its affect on the community and the people

“African Perspectives on Colonialism” is a book written by A. Adu Boahen. This book classifies the African responses to European colonialism in the 19th century. Boahen begins with the status of Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century and follows through the first years of African independence. This book deals with a twenty year time period between 1880 and 1900. Boahen talks about when Africa was seized and occupied by the Imperial Powers of Europe. Eurocentric points of view dominated the study of this era but Boahen gives us the African perspective. There are always two sides of the story and Boehen tells us the side less talked about informing us of what he knows.

Davies here highlights the issue of identity which has been central to the colonized who have suffered the effects of colonization. The loss of cultural identity as a result of colonization has made remembering and recovering of lost—sometimes stolen— culture one of the central issues of Africana academia. This issue is brought to light in Kincaid’s