In the land of the Great Lakes of Africa, live two clans of people: the Hutu and the Tutsi. For much of their five hundred year history, the Hutu and the Tutsi have lived side-by-side in peace and harmony. But on three occasions in the last fifty years, the Hutu and the Tutsi have brutalized one another in bloody massacres and barbaric attempts of genocide.
Most recently, in 1994, militant Hutu rampages across the lands killing over one million Tutsi with bludgeons and machetes. In a killing spree, the likes of which have not been seen since the Jewish Holocaust, the Hutu left piles of Tutsi bodies littered across thousands of square kilometers. Today, over 130,000 Hutu war criminals remain in prison as the tribunals go on and on, assessing guilt for the merciless butchery of Hutu and Tutsi.
Of course the story is no parable. It is the real life story of the tragic history of the African nation of Rwanda. But the Hutu and Tutsi aren't really different races. They are arbitrary and completely fanciful product of the imagination of Dutch and Belgian racists almost a hundred years ago.
As far as scientists can tell, the Hutu and Tutsi are genetically identical in every way. They both come from the same tribal source, and they have intermarried so frequently, even over the last hundred years, that it's impossible to tell a Hutu from a Tutsi. Except, every single person in Rwanda knows if he's a Hutu or a Tutsi, and most will defend their "race" to the death.
Before the First World War, the Belgians entered Rwanda and conducted a census. During this count of the people of Rwanda, the Belgians notices that some Rwandans had longer , more European noses. In the mind of the Belgians of the time, this indicated that some of these Africans might have had European ancestry. This delighted the Belgians to think there might be a class of Rwandans of distant European descent, and the Belgians decided that these quasi-Europeans should be tasked with ruling over the "child-like" and ignorant people who they will call the "Hutu". Because of their obvious belief that Europeans were intellectually superior to Africans, when the Belgians noticed that many of the Africans were clearly intelligent, they raced to the conclusion that they must be of European lineage somewhere back in time. So, the Belgians devised a complicated (but nonetheless completely made-up) system to determine who would be "Tutsi" and who would be "Hutu".
The system included measuring the length of the person's nose, their height, how thin they were and the darkness of their gums. If a person owned more than ten cows, they were automatically considered Tutsi, because Tutsi were by definition of superior intellect. The Belgian and Dutch invaders, over time, placed everyone arbitrarily designated as "Tutsi" in the government and at the head of commerce in the land, and everyone designated "Hutu" became a class of serfs. Thus, a completely fictional race was sprung from the imagination and racial biases of foreigners. Today the differing "races" are completely indistinguishable from one another.
But, that didn't make the racial distinction any less real to the Hutu and Tutsi. The Tutsi immediately began to oppress their Hutu brothers. Since the Tutsi were supposed to be superior, they accepted their fabricated superiority with exuberance. At the same time, the Hutu strained under the yoke of oppression of those arbitrarily chosen as Tutsi. Since the Hutu were far more numerous than the Tutsi, the "lower class" began to feel the power of their greater numbers.
Virtually every decision of government and every major life decision of the people, such as marriage, business partnership and friendship, depended on this racial distinction. Would a Tutsi man marry a Hutu woman? Rarely. Would a Hutu man go into business with a Tutsi man? Almost never. Would a Hutu man be offered a governmental position? Absolutely not.
In 1994, all of this racial senselessness and oppression exploded in a bloody genocide which would leave mangled bodies of over a million men, women and children piled along almost every road and in every village of the nation of Rwanda.
All because of the ignorant racism of Belgian and Dutch Invaders.
Most recently, in 1994, militant Hutu rampages across the lands killing over one million Tutsi with bludgeons and machetes. In a killing spree, the likes of which have not been seen since the Jewish Holocaust, the Hutu left piles of Tutsi bodies littered across thousands of square kilometers. Today, over 130,000 Hutu war criminals remain in prison as the tribunals go on and on, assessing guilt for the merciless butchery of Hutu and Tutsi.
Of course the story is no parable. It is the real life story of the tragic history of the African nation of Rwanda. But the Hutu and Tutsi aren't really different races. They are arbitrary and completely fanciful product of the imagination of Dutch and Belgian racists almost a hundred years ago.
As far as scientists can tell, the Hutu and Tutsi are genetically identical in every way. They both come from the same tribal source, and they have intermarried so frequently, even over the last hundred years, that it's impossible to tell a Hutu from a Tutsi. Except, every single person in Rwanda knows if he's a Hutu or a Tutsi, and most will defend their "race" to the death.
Before the First World War, the Belgians entered Rwanda and conducted a census. During this count of the people of Rwanda, the Belgians notices that some Rwandans had longer , more European noses. In the mind of the Belgians of the time, this indicated that some of these Africans might have had European ancestry. This delighted the Belgians to think there might be a class of Rwandans of distant European descent, and the Belgians decided that these quasi-Europeans should be tasked with ruling over the "child-like" and ignorant people who they will call the "Hutu". Because of their obvious belief that Europeans were intellectually superior to Africans, when the Belgians noticed that many of the Africans were clearly intelligent, they raced to the conclusion that they must be of European lineage somewhere back in time. So, the Belgians devised a complicated (but nonetheless completely made-up) system to determine who would be "Tutsi" and who would be "Hutu".
The system included measuring the length of the person's nose, their height, how thin they were and the darkness of their gums. If a person owned more than ten cows, they were automatically considered Tutsi, because Tutsi were by definition of superior intellect. The Belgian and Dutch invaders, over time, placed everyone arbitrarily designated as "Tutsi" in the government and at the head of commerce in the land, and everyone designated "Hutu" became a class of serfs. Thus, a completely fictional race was sprung from the imagination and racial biases of foreigners. Today the differing "races" are completely indistinguishable from one another.
But, that didn't make the racial distinction any less real to the Hutu and Tutsi. The Tutsi immediately began to oppress their Hutu brothers. Since the Tutsi were supposed to be superior, they accepted their fabricated superiority with exuberance. At the same time, the Hutu strained under the yoke of oppression of those arbitrarily chosen as Tutsi. Since the Hutu were far more numerous than the Tutsi, the "lower class" began to feel the power of their greater numbers.
Virtually every decision of government and every major life decision of the people, such as marriage, business partnership and friendship, depended on this racial distinction. Would a Tutsi man marry a Hutu woman? Rarely. Would a Hutu man go into business with a Tutsi man? Almost never. Would a Hutu man be offered a governmental position? Absolutely not.
In 1994, all of this racial senselessness and oppression exploded in a bloody genocide which would leave mangled bodies of over a million men, women and children piled along almost every road and in every village of the nation of Rwanda.
All because of the ignorant racism of Belgian and Dutch Invaders.