Rwanda Genocide Main Points

April 6, 1994, not even more than twenty years ago, was the beginning of a genocide that changed our world forever. The Hutus planned and achieved a massacre to try wipe out the Tutsi and the moderate Hutu population in the African country of Rwanda. As the slaughter continued the rest of the world stood by and silently watched. This lasted one hundred days and killed nearly eight-hundred-thousand Tutsis and moderate Hutus. A few reasons that led up to the Rwandan Genocide, was the colonization of Belgium to Rwanda, culture bias, and the inaction of the United States, United Nations, and the world. Shockingly, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda truly began in 1916 with the colonization of Belgium (World Without Genocide). The three tribes Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa had similar cultures; speaking the same languages and practicing the same religion. Then, Belgium created social division between Tutsis and Hutus. They decided to divide the tribes based on individual income and physical stature (Mamdani). This shows the immediate hatred the Hutus would feel toward the Tutsis because of this discrimination that would eventually led to violence. Automatically if you treat one group better than another and begin to create separation, the second group will begin to resent the favored group. You can see how making someone feel worthless would soon turn into a retaliation. That is what Belgium did to the Rwandan tribes that were once at peace. They created separation for economic and political power. Belgium thought that if the two tribes hated each other, then they wouldn’t hate Belgium. They gave Tutsis certain political rights and gave the Hutus non. They gave the Tutsis the ability to read, they were able to get jobs, and they could practice Catholicism, and the Hutus were basically illiterate slaves (The Ghost of Rwanda). You can see a direct correlation to the violence in Rwanda with how Belgium treated the Hutus. This separation Belgium created is a major factor in the