Belgian Imperialism In The 1994 Rwandan Genocide

1994 Rwandan Genocide
Rwanda had one of the most devastating tragedies because the Belgians were able to turn the Rwandans against each other. The Rwandan Genocide is when the Hutu tribe tried to eliminate the Tutsi tribe. The Tutsis and Hutus of Rwanda did not do the whole entire genocide alone, in fact they had help from the Belgians. Before the Belgians colonized Rwanda, the Hutus and Tutsis and Twa got along well and there was peace in Rwanda. After the Belgians instituted a classification system making Tutsis more superior tension began to rise between the two tribes. This rivalry lasted for a long time until the turning point of when the president of Rwanda died. The Hutus were furious and started to erase the Tutsi tribe. Colonization
The Belgians thought it was fine to install classifications in a country in which they did not own but it was not okay. The Belgians favored the Tutsis even though they were the minority group because their features resembled the Belgians more. The favoritism of the Tutsis made the Hutus jealous because they did not deserve to be treated less than others. The scriptor of Rwanda Genocide wrote, “The Belgians instituted a classification system, sorting all native people as either Tutsis or Hutus, and granting Tutsi chiefs nearly all of the power.” (Global Issues). The result of this classification system is the uprising of the Hutus. The Hutus were tired of being treated like lower class citizens when all of them came from the same place. This act made a drift between the relationship of the Tutsis and Hutus. The Hutus wanted revenge from being discriminated against in their own country by their own people which led to the genocide. Also while the genocide was occurring in Rwanda the United Nations never stepped in to help until it was too late.The author of Rwanda wrote, “The commander of UNAMIR forces, General Roméo Dallaire, sent a memo to UN headquarters informing them that he had been informed of the existence of the secret plans of Hutu extremists to carry out genocide. None of these warnings were headed.” (Governments). None of the countries stepped in to help at that time because this genocide was in Africa where their lives were not as important as others. Everyone knew how life was for the Tutsis, but they did not care because if they did then they would have sent help in