July, 19 1994

            Tutsi or Hutu. Here in Rwanda, that could mean the difference between life and death.  The Hutu political groups Interhamwe and Impuzamugambi have been inciting the slaughtering of around 500,000 Tutsi men, woman and children. What began as a fight against Tutsi rebels has become a full on genocide targeting any and all Tutsi unlucky enough to be discovered. But what does it mean to be Hutu or Tutsi? From where are the differences derived? Before the Belgian colonization of the country, there were not tribes or racial divisions. But as the Belgians began to colonize, they began selecting people to govern the country. They called them the Tutsi. Their decisions were based upon minute and sometimes undetectable physical differences. Tutsi were picked because they might be slightly taller or lighter skinned or had thinner noses. Division was created not based on a person’s ability to lead, or their ability to remain unbiased or their overall intelligence but by inconsequential and insignificant physical characteristics. But from these miniscule differences arose two distinct 

tribes.  The Tutsi ruled, somewhat unjustly so, throughout the entirety of the Belgian occupation until the Belgians left and the Hutu majority came into power. And now, the differences exaggerated by the Belgians have made it so being slightly taller or lighter skinned or having a thinner nose warrants getting brutally killed. Tutsi or Hutu; life or death. What a sad, sad world we live in where something so irrelevant makes such a great impact.-Chebunkem Ezekenekway

Ps. Sorry about the change in font, I really don't know how to fix it.