Dr. Morris 's Hotel Rwanda

The socio/cultural cause of the genocide in Rwanda came from the German and Belgian colonization, bringing along with them an idea of social science. Both colonial powers reinforced the Tutsi’s political power, which further oppressed the Hutus. This reinforcement caused the Hutus to envy the Tutsi’s aristocracy because they were privileged to all things, while the Hutus were privileged to nothing (Kapuscinski). This oppression led to many Hutu revolutions that the Hutus were successful in over the unprepared Tutsis. These victories of the Tutsis incidentally reversed the Rwandan apartheid system. The reversion of the system then gave

Rwanda was taken over by the Belgians causing the Hutus and Tutsis to not get along which caused genocide. “Facing a revolution instigated by the Hutu, the Belgians let the Hutus, who constituted the majority of Rwanda 's population, be in charge of the new government. This upset the Tutsi. The animosity between the two groups continued for decades.” Both clans were upset and started Genocide in Rwanda. The causes of their mass casualties resolved in a never ending dispute between the two clans.

In Hotel Rwanda there are two sides to the community. The Tutsi and the Hutu, a division made by Belgian colonizers. Apparently the lighter and taller Rwandans were treated better in the duration of the Belgians visit, these were the Tutsi. But after leaving, this conflict continued on for the rest 20th century and well into the 21st. But to some, the division is pointless, given that they were and will always will

In 1885, European superpowers got together to divide up the continent of Africa for the colonization of the countries. Among them, Belgium had received the country of Rwanda. The practice of colonialism was common during the time period as European nations feigned to extract natural resources from African countries which were seen as gold mines. Being outnumbered, the Belgians knew they would have to find ways to maintain power in Rwanda. In doing so, they implemented this by dividing the indigenous people of Rwanda through the means of hegemonic racism. Those with dark skin, wide noses, and short were labeled as Hutus, while those who fit the European ideal of beauty with a lighter skin tone, tall, and smaller noses were labeled as Tutsis. While Belgium held power over Rwanda, they deemed the Tutsis as the superior race despite them being the minority race and gave them positions of power over the Hutus. However, on November 1959 the Hutus formed a rebellion and gained independence from Belgium. The dynamics of the hierarchy of privilege quickly changed as the Hutus were on the top and the Tutsis became the oppressed and many fled the country. Although the dreadful reign of colonialism was over, it’s everlasting effects still haunted the country of Rwanda, which is prevalent in the film Hotel Rwanda that depicts the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. In the film Hotel Rwanda, social stratification, racism, and gift giving are heavily prevalent.

The continent of Africa has been continually engaged in civil, tribal and cross national conflicts from colonial independence up until present day. What historians regard as the most ‘efficient genocide’ in history, occurred in a mere 100 days in the small central African country of Rwanda. The Hutus and the Tutsis, two ethnic groups within Rwanda, have been at continual unrest for the past half a century. During the 100 day massacre of 1994, a murder occurred every two seconds; resulting in 18% of the Tutsi population being killed. A decade after the war, in 2004, the film Hotel Rwanda was released. The film followed the story of a Hutu man; Paul Rusesabagina as he housed over 1200 Tutsi refugees in his hotel. The Hotel De Milles

The Rwanda revolution of 1959 was significant because it marked the shift in power between two ethic groups within Rwanda. The country was originally led by the Tutsis and was later given to the Hutus by their colonizers Belgium. The change in power between the Tutsis and the Hutus caused tensions within the country as both groups battled for power. These tensions led to uprisings and as a result led to the death of many Tutsis. The revolution of 1959 not only emphasized the exsiting tensions between the two ethnic groups but it as well showed the impact of Belgium’s influcences even after Rwanda gained independce in 1962.

There was a lot of history involved between the Tutsi and the Hutu people of Rwanda even before the genocide occurred. This history goes back even before the Europeans came to Rwanda. The Hutu have always been the majority, but the Tutsi were considered the elite. This was especially true because before the Europeans came, they had a Tutsi as their king. In the early 20th Century, when the Belgians took control over the Germans, they found the Tutsi to be easier to get along with and to be more “graceful” in appearance (meaning more Caucasian). In 1933, the Belgians introduced ethnic identity cards and made sure most of the jobs and education went to the Tutsi, which angered the

On April 6, 1994, Rwanda experienced a period of great turmoil as thousands of people fell victim to the horrors of the Rwandan genocide. The main targets of the genocide were Tutsis and Hutu moderates. Though the main cause of the genocide was a conflict between two ethnicities, the genocide was also fueled by political factors and social conditions. Rwanda is the smallest sub-Saharan country with a population of about 7 million inhabitants. Although the indigenous peoples of Rwanda are the Twa, they are now the minority. 90% of Rwanda's population is comprised of Hutus, and the rest of the population's majority consists of Tutsi people. Hatred between the two ethnic groups had begun in the pre-colonial era, which was long before the 20th

Lindsey, great discussion post on the Rwanda Genocide. I too wrote my essay on the Rwanda Genocide. It is heartbreaking to read the reality of so many lives being lost. This civil war between the Hutus and the Tutsis was political in nature and directly related to struggles for dominance and supremacy. Lemarchand (n.d.) states, “Hutu and Tutsi shared the same language and culture; the same clan names, the same customs, and the symbols of kingship served as a powerful unifying bond between them” (p.484). As you mentioned, In the 1950s, the Belgian colonial state policies initiated the drastic changes to each ethnic identity, which was the turning point for the change in the society of Rwanda. Rwanda’s colonial period, the Belgians chose the

Between the months of April and July in 1994 approximately one million people were killed in Rwanda. There are three ethnic groups in Rwanda, Hutu, Tutsi, and Aboriginal Twa. The genocide occurred between two different groups, the Hutu and Tutsi people. The Hutu composed close to 85% of the population while the minority Tutsi people make up approximately 14% with the Twa people composing the remaining 1%. The Republic of Rwanda like most African nations has a history of colonization from different European countries with different and conflicting ideas of governance and how a colony should be developed and used. It can be argued that many of the

The Belgians’ act of inhumanity through the discrimination of the Hutu is the main reason that the Rwandan genocide took place. In the article titled, Rwanda Genocide of 1994, the author begins by introducing the background of Rwanda: “The three groups, Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa lived together for centuries. Belgium ruled Rwanda in the 19th century and granted the Tutsi social power over the Hutu.” (“Rwanda Genocide”). For instance, the Belgian colonizers threw the Hutu into agriculturist and other primary jobs which did not earn them enough to support themselves. Tutsis were given complete control over the government. This cruel classification of the Hutus directly relates to the different acts of inhumanity present before the genocide even started.

Rwanda is a country that has a rich, but bloody history. Rwanda was originally inhabited by the Twa, a pygmy tribe who hunted and gathered for survival. Between the 5th and 11th century, the Hutu tribe migrated to Rwanda, followed by the Tutsi tribe during the 14th century. The Hutus were farmers, while the Tutsis owned cattle and by the 15th century, the Tutsis had established power. In 1916, the Belgian colonists arrived. The Belgian’s favored the Tutsis and began segregating the two tribes by issuing identification cards which included ethnicity. They supported the Tutsi political power and replaced the Hutu chiefs with Tutsi chiefs, reinforcing the ethnic divide between the two tribes. The Tutsis followed the command of the Belgium for

In 1994, a brutal battle of discrimination and hatred erupted. In the central African country of Rwanda, a long brewing tension broke out in a battle between the Tutsi and Hutu. Lasting approximately 100 days, the conflict forever changed the lives of 40% of the Rwandan population. About 800,000 Tutsi were killed and many refugees fled the country ( “Rwandan Genocide”). It was a grueling fight, based on land and power, that all started with a lopsided hierarchy created by the Belgians that loomed over the heads of the Rwandan people. Belgium’s colonization of Rwanda, served as a catalyst to the genocide between the Tutsi and Hutu by creating the unjust differences and unequal rights between

The early colonization of Rwanda by the Germans and Belgians created the major internal conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi. At the time of the Europeans arrival, Rwanda was made up of 85% Hutu, who were farmers, 14% Tutsi, who were cattle herders, and 1% Twa, the aboriginal people (Chrétien 69). In 1890, Rwanda first became a colony of Germany, lasting until the end of World War I, when power was transferred to Belgium. Both of these colonies favored the Tutsi population (Staff ¶2), because they believed that the Tutsi were more Caucasian and therefore superior in intelligence to the Hutu (Jones 17). During this time, the Belgians oversaw a land reform process by the Tutsi, which seized control of farmland that had been under the control of the Hutu, without providing them with substantial compensation (Prunier 28). This favoritism planted the seed for the

Hotel Rwanda is a film about a man named Paul who helps save Tutsis during the genocide that occurred in Rwanda 1994. There are many instances of dehumanization that are presented in the film one of them been the genocide. The genocide occurred when the president was killed in a plane crash in which the Hutus found it as a chance to begin the genocide against the Tutsis. In this quote by the BBC NEWS they state that “The two ethnic groups are actually very similar - they speak the same language, inhabit the same areas and follow the same traditions.Tutsis are often taller and thinner than Hutus…”(Rwanda: How The Genocide Happened). Even though the Hutus and Tutsis are alike, Tutsis were been murdered for their physical appearances. In the film we hear people call the Tutsis “cockroaches” because they were seen as less than them. The Hutus were also targeting the