4/5/2010 Christopher Seifert

Like most countries in Africa, peace is something to be treasured. It does not happen too often

and when it does it should be praised. The Hutu have been oppressed for years and years, causing them

resentment toward the Tutsi. The Tutsi have dominated the Hutu in all aspects of life until recent times,

and when they lost power things started to turn ugly for them. This essay discusses the history of the

conflict, the scenario of the conflict and an analysis of the problem that led to the genocide.

The Hutu and the Tutsi have had conflict that has spanned the last century or since they were

separated into different nations instead of inhabiting an area in Africa . There are many things that

contributed to the separation of territories that the Hutu and the Tutsi inhabited, it is mainly due to the

settlement of Europeans throughout all of Africa. When the Europeans came to Africa they brought

with them different ideas and a way of life that started with a stratified class system. It is from the

different class system that the hatred started for the different tribes. In “1959 The last Tutsi king,

Mutara Rudahigwa, dies. The Hutu peasant massacres and revolts that follow cause the exodus of

hundreds of thousands of Tutsis.”(Hatzfeld pg. xii 2005) The violence that took place in 1959 was

organized with little care and the violence was meant to try and drive the Tutsi out of what was soon to

be called, Rwanda. The ethnocentric attitude of the Tutsi has started to come back to them at the price

of their own lives. This is the first time the Hutu will rebel against the race that has oppressed them for

their entire newly developed history. At this point the violence is considered at a small level compared

to what will come in the future. Because of the lash back that took place the Tutsi people left in

Rwanda were, thus, forced to band together and stay strong as a group instead of what they were used

to previously. But the strong Hutu, mostly because of their numbers, became even stronger and more

aggressive in their ways. In 1961 the first Hutu party was elected into power in Rwanda. Once in power

the Hutu started killing again. Just two years later the Hutu started a widespread genocide. The killing

now has shifted. The killing is being organized by the government. Representing the true definition of
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genocide, the new Hutu government leaders waste no time in showing their dominance over the Tutsi.

From an outsiders perspective this is much different than what has happened before in the countries or

territories history. Previously the killing had been much more what westerners would call tribal feuds.

Now that the killings are being organized by the government that controls both groups in its nation is

very unfair for the Tutsi people. Seeing as how the Tutsi have always been the ones on top, it was a

surreal feeling for them. The Tutsi were left with out a voice in their own country.

While under control of the Belgians, Rwandans were slowly being converted or were having

their normal lives changed, which is described as assimilation, and is close but not exactly what

happened with the Aborigines. The Belgians were doing this to try and develop their new colony, not so

they could prosper but so that both could prosper. The natives saw this as a drastic measure to change

the people themselves not as the Hutu trying to change the Tutsi, or the other way around. This hatred

for the other group started early on and grew larger as the politics became a bigger part in the

independence of the country of Rwanda. Because of the increasing energy being spent on politics it was

only a matter of time before one of the two groups gained enough power to over throw the other side.

This was what started the mass killings. The mass killings were much more of a personal thing to each

individual killer, though the killings were directed from or by the government. But it was not guns that

were doing the killing, it was youths and men, using machetes and striking people down. “During that

killing season we rose earlier than usual, to eat lots of meat, and we went up to the soccer field at

around nine or ten o'clock. The leaders would grumble about latecomers, and we would go off on the

attack. Rule number one was to kill. There was no rule number two. It was an organization with out

complications.”(Hatzfeld pg. 10 2005) This story, like many others, shows the extent of what they

were told to do. Nothing mattered as long as all the Tutsis died. “They also made use of publications

and organizations within Belgium to make their cause and their views known and to win sympathy in
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the mother county, the one that held ultimate power over politics in their land.”(Eller pg. 219 1999) The

abundance of Hutu's in the area made it easy for the generals to recruit people for their killing missions.

The use of the media available helped also. What started as small ideological beliefs in the difference in

appearance between the two groups was exaggerated by the new political parties and a deep hatred was

created. The Tutsi who had always seen them selves as the superior people in the area were now in fear

of their livelihood. How the tables have turned; the once considered servants, Hutu people, are now the

governing body in Rwanda and have control over all the Tutsi.

The Hutu being in power bring up questions that can be answered many different ways. The

first might be why would a group want to kill other people they have been living with for eternity. Or

why would killing be the answer. Couldn't they just enslave the Tutsi and accomplish the same thing.

More over why don't the Tutsi over take the Hutu and fight back. The simple answer is that there are

too many Hutu for the Tutsi to stand a chance. The Hutu had been oppressed for so long that they have

a deep deep hatred for the Tutsi. This is almost the exact same feeling that African Americans must

have felt before during and after the civil rights movement in the United States. The history of the two

groups shows many examples of why the Hutu would feel they need to eradicate the Tutsi. It started

way back when the Tutsi used the term Muhutu that meant servant for the Hutu. This overwhelming

idea that the Hutu were really below the Tutsi started the entire mess. Before there were borders the

two groups thought of each other as people and they noticed different characteristics which

distinguished each group. It was when the differences were singled out and when the government

started to tell everyone that the Hutu needed to eradicate anyone that thought of themselves as better,

which was, inevitably, the Tutsi. Did the Tutsi do anything to deserve what happened to them or did

they ask for it by years and years of domination over the Hutu's. The Tutsi were a dominant race in the

beginning in Rwanda, however over time, and like most developing nations, both groups began to have
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the same possessions and ways of life. The Tutsi were not the only ones that were able to own

livestock, and the Hutu were not the only ones that farmed. By the time the extreme genocide was

taking place both groups were able to attain the same level of well being as the other. There was no

need for the killing, the Hutu wanted to show dominance after years and years of being oppressed. With

out the Hutu acting as servants, were the Tutsi still taking advantage of them. And were the Hutu now

taking advantage of the Tutsi because they were in power of Rwanda. It is clear that the Hutu were

taking advantage of their power which is why all courts ruled that the mass killing of the Tutsi in 1994

and 1996 were the act of genocide.

The historical evidence shows that many different incidents occurred that eventually ended up

in the genocide in Rwanda. Most points lead to it being the fault of the Belgians, in that they started the

class stratification in Rwanda. The extreme separation in the two groups social status was for a long

time accepted and went noticed but unresolved. By the time anyone could do anything it was too late

and the Hutu's were already well on their way of accomplishing their goals of eradicating the entire

Tutsi race. Killing over 2 million Tutsi's the Hutu had just about done that or had killed the identity of

any remaining Tutsi. The killings were unjust and have no place in this world. With more

anthropological education this problem would have been stopped. It is not until people realize that it is

alright to be different from one another and that each individual culture is beautiful because they are

just that, different, that there will be peace. As for now we are still living in a culture of conflict.