Genocide is defined as "an attempt to destruct an ethnic, racial, national, or religious group", and clearly causing horrific consequences. During the Holocaust, the lesson behind the suffering and brutality posed on the Jewish and other non-Aryan races, one can ask, how could this ever happen again? Yet, unfortunately, many genocides have occurred since then. During the year of 1994, the Rwandan Genocide marked its place in history. In just 100 days, 800,000 Rwandans laid dead on the streets, with their bodies barely identifiable. From the start, this attempt to "exterminate the other group" was due to a long-lasted rivalry between the two major ethnic groups in Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis. Their long history of violence goes back to the colonial period where the Hutus, the majority amongst Rwandan ethnicities, and the minority Tutsis, fought over political control. As it plays out, it was the cause of events that led to this catastrophe. This website will share the background story on how and why the genocide occurred, and other information related to the hatred between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnicities. Illustrations, mostly pictures and videos, will be posted to share with you some personal accounts of people that actually endured the whole experience. By looking at this website one can understand the indescribable suffering and the never-ending fear that people encountered during the Rwandan Genocide.

***WARNING! - This webpage contains graphic images. Viewer discretion advised. ***

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Difference Between a Hutu and a Tutsi


Before mentioning anything about the conflict between the two ethnicities, Hutu and Tutsi, we must be able to tell their differences. In understanding each group, one can see why they would spare lives over specific issues/problems. Ironically, any outsider would have a difficult time telling the difference between the two ethnicities. Truthfully, the two groups are quite similar. With an exception of a stereotype that a Tutsi is usually tall, both look the same physically. Both speak the same Bantu language, Kinyarwanda. The majority of each group practice Christianity, so there is no religious-type of conflict. "Intermarriages between the two groups have taken place for centuries." However, as previously mentioned, Hutus controlled the majority while the Tutsis were considered the second highest in the Rwandan caste system. In the eyes of a Rwandan, they oppose to view each other as different ethnicities but rather different classes. A Tutsi is considered as a foreigner because people in Rwanda, especially the Hutus and Twas (the last class in the caste system), say that the Tutsi origins came from Ethiopia. As a result, Hutus subject the Tutsis under "outsiders." The story takes a turn when colonialism takes place in Rwanda. The Belgian government changed the classification of each person by it depending on ethnicity, rather than class. In addition, the Belgians declared the Tutsi ethnicity as the superior race. With the minority gaining political control, it is highly vulnerable to violence caused by the majority. Similar in other areas, European colonialism stirred up problems between the two groups that ultimately led to further chaos in Rwanda.
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