History of Violence Between Rwanda Ethnic Groups
In the country of Rwanda tension between ethnic groups has always been in existence and it is definitely not anything new. Hutu are seen to be the more elite ethnic group than the Tutsi because they made up about eighty four percent of the Rwandan population. It didn’t help that they were viewed as “strong, stocky farmers” either. The Tutsi people were mostly herdsmen and landowners and the Hutu were the people who worked on the land so it was natural for the Hutu population to outnumber that of the Tutsi. Even their names alone mean the opposite! Tutsi means a person rich in cattle, but on the other hand Hutu means a follower of a more powerful person. Although these are two completely different …show more content…
The genocide lasted for one hundred days and approximately eight hundred thousand Rwandans were killed in this short amount of time. But to get a little more specific, an estimated amount of five hundred thousand Tutsis were murdered and also moderate Hutus. The militia groups and Hutu supremacist were the one’s who primarily carried out the genocide. One of the most unique aspects of the genocide is that it was actual Hutu citizens slaughtering other Tutsi citizens. There were literally thousands of Hutu people running throughout the streets with machetes and homemade weapons seeking nothing but the destruction of a Tutsi’s life. For the time of the genocide and even after the streets were flooded with blood and body parts, it is estimated that just about two million Hutu refugees packed in disease- ridden refugee camps of neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and former Zaire. Not only were people killing during this time, approximately two hundred and fifty thousand women were raped. The media played a big role on the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan genocide was heavily instigated by radio and sectarian reports within the country itself. International media also played a large role in covering the genocide. It provided lopsided and biased views on the Rwandan tragedy, which is most likely the reason, most people viewed the international media as a negative resource for coverage. This is a prime example of why it is so vital that citizens understand the full scope of an issue before diving into media information. The Rwandan Genocide is not the first event that the media has displayed unjust views of an issue. The things the media shows us can alter our whole view or shift our attention to something they want us to see instead of the truth. For example, blaming the Rwandan Genocide on the downing of Juvenal Habyariamana’s plane. When in reality there had
In the country of Rwanda tension between ethnic groups has always been in existence and it is definitely not anything new. Hutu are seen to be the more elite ethnic group than the Tutsi because they made up about eighty four percent of the Rwandan population. It didn’t help that they were viewed as “strong, stocky farmers” either. The Tutsi people were mostly herdsmen and landowners and the Hutu were the people who worked on the land so it was natural for the Hutu population to outnumber that of the Tutsi. Even their names alone mean the opposite! Tutsi means a person rich in cattle, but on the other hand Hutu means a follower of a more powerful person. Although these are two completely different …show more content…
The genocide lasted for one hundred days and approximately eight hundred thousand Rwandans were killed in this short amount of time. But to get a little more specific, an estimated amount of five hundred thousand Tutsis were murdered and also moderate Hutus. The militia groups and Hutu supremacist were the one’s who primarily carried out the genocide. One of the most unique aspects of the genocide is that it was actual Hutu citizens slaughtering other Tutsi citizens. There were literally thousands of Hutu people running throughout the streets with machetes and homemade weapons seeking nothing but the destruction of a Tutsi’s life. For the time of the genocide and even after the streets were flooded with blood and body parts, it is estimated that just about two million Hutu refugees packed in disease- ridden refugee camps of neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and former Zaire. Not only were people killing during this time, approximately two hundred and fifty thousand women were raped. The media played a big role on the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan genocide was heavily instigated by radio and sectarian reports within the country itself. International media also played a large role in covering the genocide. It provided lopsided and biased views on the Rwandan tragedy, which is most likely the reason, most people viewed the international media as a negative resource for coverage. This is a prime example of why it is so vital that citizens understand the full scope of an issue before diving into media information. The Rwandan Genocide is not the first event that the media has displayed unjust views of an issue. The things the media shows us can alter our whole view or shift our attention to something they want us to see instead of the truth. For example, blaming the Rwandan Genocide on the downing of Juvenal Habyariamana’s plane. When in reality there had