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Counter Racism Third World Development
Featured Opinion:
A Critical Analysis of the Rwanda-Burundi Genocide and the Sociopolitical
Implications of Colonial Rule in Africa
By Chloe S. Manchester
2010, Vol. 2 No. 07 | pg. 1/1
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KEYWORDS:
Colonialism Human Rights Politics Government Africa Rwanda Burundi Genocide
Counter Racism Third World Development

There has always been a great deal of intrigue as to why certain people and certain
parts of the world are cursed with such a greater deal of suffering than others. Over
time certain societies have developed through a series of phases of modernity and
civilization to become more successful. Industrialization has strengthened
economies, research has advanced technology, science has made discoveries in
healthcare, and the result has been that some people in some parts of the world
enjoy significantly higher standards of living than those elsewhere. What is also
striking is how development has been stagnated in many parts of the world.

In this fashion, with different societies having progressed at different rates, the
groudnwork has been set for a perilous balance of power in the world. In particular,

certain parts of Africa are home to some of the greatest suffering on earth. The
history of a large majority of the African continent has been plagued with the
deterioration of ethnic relations and severe economic hardships. Communicable
diseases, malnutrition, starvation and political instability have left countries to bleed
dry. Stripped of the ability to move towards a higher standard of living, with the
exception of a few cases, many African countries are falling into despair while the
rest of the world waits like vultures to take what they can from the destruction.

Machiavelli and Hobbes described the world as a constant state of fear and chaos,
dominated by mans instinctual self-serving and violent human nature. If this is the
way in which we choose to accept the world in its most natural sense, could certain
atrocities in our history have been avoided at all or were they simply the result of
mankinds instinctual behavior. For the purpose of this analysis I have found the
trend of colonial rule to be coincidentally paralleled to a number of the worlds most
perplexing acts of inhumanity, in particular the Belgian colonization of the RwandaBurundi region prior to the Tutsi-Hutu genocide.

Over time, Western powers have found it wildly prosperous to impose their authority
over weaker nations, leaving continents in the wake of their tyranny. The effects
have been irreparable. Manipulation of weaker people is so entrenched into the
history of the world that it has become profoundly imprinted in the psychosocial
philosophy of international relations to this day. If we can understand colonialism as
either an act of human nature or perhaps a vital flaw in foreign policy, then it may
be possible to introduce a solution to avoid mass human rights violations. What
truly inspires me is the possibility of being able to apply the trend of colonialism in
its original sense, to politics of today. This approach could afford us the invaluable
opportunity to prevent the outbreak of a fundamentalist antagonism in their early
stages of development. Perhaps there are significant underlying differences in
structure of these civilizations that allowed for colonial invasion to occur so
successfully, but differences nonetheless that would have encountered conflicts in
evolution the towards modernization. Is colonialism indeed responsible for the
widespread downfall of its African territories, and did it set into motion precedence
for ethnic rivalries?

Colonialism has had profound implications on a range of lasting parameters

throughout the theoretical and philosophical study of political relations. The first
that I will address is the psychology behind terminology we use to explain certain
events and how this may be responsible for changing the outcome of a situation.
Within colonialism there are undertones of greater paradigms that are cause for
intrigue in the study of global political relations; how theology affects politics,

education and media as political motivators, the violent nature of political

relationships and the inherent nature of inequality in the world.

The mental images that have come up since the introduction of this topic are surely
unique to you as the reader, and without a doubt they will be responsible for the
way in which you so interpret the content of this paper. Interpretation of the world
is, quite simply, the first step in understanding its perplexing calamities. On a very
basic level, we dont live in the world on our own and somehow need to find ways
of accommodating each other (Pin-Fat, 23). The dilemma confronting us is the way
in which different perceptions of ethics and morality coexist, if at all. Ideological
differences will always, as they should, prevail, and if we are to approach them in
collaborative manner, the first step is creating defining the issue and recognizing
the implications of certain terminology. An acceptable definition of the term
colonialism is as follows:

A policy by which a nation maintains or extends its control over foreign

dependencies. The two main types of colonialism are movement of people from the
mother country to a form a new political institution in the designated distant land,
and external powers rule over indigenous peoples (Spiegel, 59).

Even if a universal definition can be agreed upon, which is rarely the case, it is
almost impossible that the connotations and allusions of such a term will be the
same throughout; the socialization experienced by a given person will define the
perceived definition of the term. Essentially, I do not believe it is possible for bias
and human emotion to fall away. For the general public, colonialism has
connotations almost solely with the period from the early 1900s to the early 1960s
revolving around European possession of foreign territories. I am hesitant to accept
the way in which the term has become so isolated in time, since it defines a process
not an event. This is troubling for a number of reasons, mostly because, as I will
present shortly, the Western world has always had an eminent sphere of influence
on the developing countries which are comparable to colonial governance of the
1900s. The period of colonialism is long from over. In such a way colonialism has
become a time frame, where post-colonialism is simply the period directly following
independence and implying that other powers have abandoned former abusive
practices.

What seems to be a more realistic interpretation is that the period of post has
been quite radically extended and may still be today. This blatant classification of
terms simply marginalizes as well as isolates the crisis from being of critical
relevance to modern-day politics. The words become trapped in a time capsule
along with others such as slavery, and in this way we fail to realize their eminent
severity in our societies. The way I see it, slavery was not abolished after Abolition;
a person who is not compensated for work is a slave, a child forced into the sex
trade is a slave and pretending this isnt prevalent today is simply ignorance. For
the purpose of this paper I hope to reestablish these terms into our contemporary
vocabulary in a way that they may attract more mindfulness and urgency.

A great deal of what orchestrates the political world are perceptions. Our fears are a
cultivation of what we perceive as threats and how we perceive ourselves in the
world. As mentioned above with regards to terminology, propaganda and education
are a powerful aspect of socialization because they are what teach us to think a
certain way. Through the time of colonialism propaganda acted to suppress voices
of dissent and create a world culture that accepts the white mans rule. By nature,
political control thrives on cultivating public opinions in its favor - be it Chairman
Maos Little Red Book or the Nixon Administrations Cold War survival kits and
anti-Communist posters. Beginning as early as 1908, when Congo came under
control of the Belgian State, they began a series of colonial exhibits to promote the
colonial idea to the Belgian population, largely isolated from African affairs. These
nationalistic exhibitions centered on supposed representation of before and after
Belgium and were largely contributors to circulating propaganda that cultivate
colonialism into a widespread European practice. More importantly thought,
Belgians hoped these images would send the message that Belgium was a powerful
competitor on the international arena, that they had brought civilization to central
Africa and that it was a sign of King Leopold II success in the world. Figure C
illustrates one of these posters on display in Marseilles in 1906, illustrating a
colorful embellishment of a colonizer-host relationship far removed from actuality,
and perhaps they were wise enough in this regard to limit the expositions to outside
Africas borders.

Because education systems have developed at such radically different rates and in
such different ways they are accurate indicators of a countrys level of economic
development. Because there was no centralized education system in place when
colonizers arrived in the Rwanda-Burundi region, independence left many African
countries with the curricula and teaching methods developed by their missionaries
and members of the Church. For the most part these were teaching methods that
had long since been abandoned by the Western world for being outdated and
repressive of critical and creative learning, but because there was no effort made to

replace these materials, communities relied heavily on them. At this point it must
be addressed that regardless of how flawed and expired the schooling tools they
had been left with, it was nonetheless an introduction to the value of education.
Arguments are made that it disabled the re-creation of social identity within
countered and thus deprived them of re-nationalization after independence.

Accounts of some of the curriculums in African schools reveal teaching practices

nothing short of brainwashing that were imposed to implicitly create a psyche of
inferiority to white supremacists. Umez reveals some phrases he remembers
learning as a child in Nigeria:

"oyibo bu ndi muo," (white men are naturally spirits),"America ilu oba" ( white
man's country is naturally the land of kings), "dan bature," (white men are by
nature civilized), and " buter" (symbolizes the natural lead of white men)

This is deeply sobering; the consequences of intruding upon the psychological

development of a nations children must be one of the most tragic violations of
sovereignty possible. This trend simply allows for Western powers to instigate a
potential inferiority complex, allowing them to rule by invisible hand long after
independence. Colonialism finds its place not just in propaganda but similarly in
literature. Tintin, what would appear to have been a harmless comic book created
by the French author Herg, is actually a source of political undertones that offer
valuable insight into societal reactions to colonialism at the time.

Herg offers a radically different account of colonialism in his colorful comic Tintin
au Congo than does British novelist Joseph Conrad in the classic 1977 Heart of
Darkness. Shortly after territories started gaining independence, Herg started to
receive wide criticism for glorifying colonial bigotry, notably the scene in which
Tintin presents to a classroom full of Congolese children, ''My dear friends, today I
will teach you about your fatherland: Belgium!'' (figure E) was recalled from
publication1. Some government officials of the Democratic Republic of Congo
responded to this popular Belgian trend, stating that they did not feel targeted by
its message, yet realized that for the Belgians, it made it easier to discriminate
against the Congolese (Onishi, 1999). There was never a documented response on
the part of the Congolese public with regards to Tintin au Congo, and there is no
way to be sure what Hergs intentions for such controversial cartoons could have
been, but the books popularity speaks for itself. There is such a gross stereotype in

the way the Congolese school children have been drawn with an uncanny
resemblance to the United States blackface caricatures in the in the 19th century.

Living in Cameroon, a Francophone country and former French territory, my sister

and I attended a French elementary school and became fond of Tintin. No political or
social commentary was ever made, that I can recall, yet this seemingly innocent
comic book had deeply rooted racial implications that could only have been
subliminally influential upon a childs psyche. I find myself distracted by the irony of
the fact. Is it redeemable to say that potentially racist literature is only such if you
perceive it that way? This is not something that I will attempt to answer here,
however the societal implications of these cartooned Congolese would be received
much less favorably today (enabling me to condemn its political incorrectness).

Something that traditional theories could not have been accounted for with regards
to human nature is the modern element of the global modern economy. In the
simplest sense, however, the same instincts that drives human nature is what
drives the economy it is the push and pull for survival. What makes this relevant is
that a successful economy is paralleled with a higher quality of life. Thus,
understanding how (or if) economies have been hindered by the consequences of
their history allows us to study this rather than ideological inferiorities.

For an economy to be successful, self-sufficiency is absolutely necessary. Under

colonial rule, territories were forced out of a very basic level of subsistence farming
and hunting into a system of surplus production. The value of labor became a new
element, however the structure was a fixed market economy with regulated supply
and demand. In a sense, there was a contract between the host nation and the
colonial power in which exploited labor and resources were sold on the Western
market. This relationship was neither a mutually beneficial nor a consensual one.
Initially this created a demand for foreign goods like coffee, tea, cotton, cocoa and
later diamonds. It was an important move to introduce these previously isolated
nations into the international market, a great deal of the raw goods we use and rely
on every day come from that part of the world. The idea of integrating new markets
into the global economy operated under a number of assumptions. First, we assume
that the goods are purchased at its value and labor is compensated appropriately.
Second, there must be a legitimate opportunity for these countries to trade fairly
without dependence upon its past colonizers. That is to say, if countries rely solely
on export to past colonizers they will be forced into unfair trade agreements. Third,
it assumes that people accustomed to subsistence agrarian practices will be able to
make the transition into large-scale commercial farming.

By no coincidence whatsoever, there was a distinct sense of white supremacy, that

Africa was a lost land of cannibalistic savages. The Belgians were notorious for this
reaction to Africa, although by no means were they alone in their racist beliefs. The
Hamitic hypothesis, allowing the Belgians to perceive Tutsis as sons of Noah who
had been expelled from the civilized world (which is why they where black and
doomed to live in Africa), is an explicit superiority complex. Figure C is an example
of one of these identity cards; the holders ethnic group is selected, similar to the
practices in the Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), where Belgians
referred to Congolese who had received Belgian-style education as ''les evolues,'' or
''those who have evolved'' and, just like in Belgian East Africa, marginalized them
with identity cards (Onishi, 1999). This notion that evolution might be a progression
towards Westernization is something that Darwin was also familiar with. Darwin
explicitly taught of the white mans superiority through the course of natural
selection and in doing so would violently force blacks and lesser races out of the
gene pool (Darwin pp. 31-33). In the same line of thought, there is something that
does not seem justifiable in reverting to a sort of counter-racism, white supremacy
altogether being held responsible the less economically developed world.

The Berlin Conference was the single event responsible for dictating what foreign
territories fell under which government. It was an attempt to resolve what was
called The Scramble for Africa; disputes between the major world powers at the
time: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Italy,
Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden-Nosrway. Exclusion of African
leaders was rationalized in terms of eugenics and superiority, as was previously
alluded to. Desire for territories abroad transpired as capitalist economies began to
expand along with wide global exploration and to satisfy the need for cheap labor
after the slave trade had effectively been abolished. Not only that, but it was the
perfect opportunity for those in the lower to middle class to exploit resources and
labor, living much more luxuriously (larger land ownership, servants, livestock,
crops, etc.) than would have been possible in Europe. This raises the question of
morality, because if slavery had been irradiated how could a subsequent
enslavement of natives within their own sovereign land be justified? Clearly it
cannot be. The missing link that brought on the Berlin Conference is evidence of
severe gaps in the integrity of human nature and collective engagement of so-called
civilized powers in human rights violations acting as legitimacy.

For a number of reasons, I have chosen the Rwanda and Burundi conflict to consider
the hand Belgian colonial rule may have had in the 1994 genocide. First, the ethnic
implications of their colonizing practices were distinctly marginalizing. It must be

established whether the ethnic divide is one that would have been so dangerously
personified regardless of Belgian presence. Second, unlike some of the other African
nations such as Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa that fell under different
colonizers, the economy in these two countries has not been able to sustain itself
even to the slightest degree. This suggests that the distinctive way in which
different Western countries governed may have been influential precedence. In
other words, perhaps it was not colonialism in itself but more importantly
colonialism under what government. In this way, I will conduct a three-part analysis:
colonial policy, followed by a counterfactual analysis paired with Rwanda-Burundis
pre-colonial politics.

In 1918, under the Treaty of Versailles, the Rwanda-Urundi territory changed hands
from German to Belgian control and became Belgian East Africa. The region was
made up of three predominant groups: Tutsi, the Hutu, and the Twa. Among them
there were shared religious beliefs, a common culture as well as a shared language,
Kinyarwanda. Hutus, the majority group, were peasants of Bantu descent. Tutsis on
the other hand were cattle herders and generally of a taller stature and according to
the Belgians appeared more European in physicality. Twa remain only in 1% of the
population and because being hunter-gatherers their nomadic trade allowed them
to avoid a great deal of Belgian laws and regulations. Governing these three groups,
Belgian colonizers made conscious choices with regards to phenotypic and
financial characteristics that would instill deeply rooted ethnic marginalization for
generations to come. The Belgians justified this favoritism under the notion that
Tutsis were descendents of Ham, the son of Noah, cursed and banished to Africa and
thus more elite than the Twa and the Hutus. Clearly there are religions undertones
that prioritize the way in which the Belgians performed their governing practices;
separation of Church and State was not restrictive whatsoever since policy making
went hand in hand with theological ideologies.

These distinctions were soon institutionalized when Belgians began nominating

members of the Tutsi minority to positions of power to rule over the rest of the
population in both Rwanda and Urundi (Burundi, now) separately. Compulsory
identification cards were distributed discerning the holders ethnicity, determined by
the ethnicity of their fathers (regardless of the fact that marriage between the
groups was commonplace2), the size of their herd (those with 10 or more cows
would be considered Tutsis), and discrepancies made by the Belgian Church.
Automatically this granted preference to the richer cattle owners3, evidently
revealing the true intentions of the Belgians to create a dominant upper class that
had greater control over resources. The Tutsis were by no means treated as equals
by the white imperialists, yet the political favoritism, Western-style education and
privileges to local resources they received was enough to create a prevailing set of

social differences. Notably, the education some of the Tutsis received was lead
predominantly in missionary schools. As a result, racial elitism was set into motion;
Tutsis adopted a sense of superiority and legitimized authority over their fellow
citizens, who having been so deliberately neglected (and consequentially betrayed
by their fellow Africans to the white powers) grew severely resentful. Because the
people living in Burundi and Rwanda had a shared religion, there could never have
been a divide on such grounds without introduction of the Western Church.

When speaking of perceptions, it seems as thought the way in which Belgian

colonizers interpreted the stratification among the natives to be on ethnic lines,
contrary to the actuality, that it was a society structured by tribalism and industry.
What became a matter of ethnicity could not truly have been defined in those
terms prior to the Tutsi-Hutu identification cards because the two groups did not in
fact differ with regards to race, religion, language and national or cultural origin.
Perhaps Europeans saw classification on artificial nationalistic terms as much more
meaningful than in terms of class, a feeling which may have been greatly motivated
by a long history of nation-building in most European countries. That is not to say
class did not exist in European nations, but realist notion may have motivated them
to believe it was more important to be separated from outsiders.

Just before the region gained independence in 1962 the Huts in Rwanda began a
series of attacks against the Tutsi-led Belgian government killing thousands of Tutsis
and sending 130,000 more into neighboring counties (DRC, Uganda and Burundi).
As a result, Rwanda maintained a largely Hutu-dominated population strengthened
by the abandoned plantations and cattle from the Tutsis who had fled seeking
asylum, while Burundi, having gained a large influx of Tutsis refugees, grew to be a
majority-Tutsi state. Burundi, stricken with the sudden overpopulation and scarcity
of resources retaliated against the Hutus in attempts to regain control over the once
Tutsi Rwanda region, only prompting a more violent massacre of over 10,000 more
Tutsis. Rwanda soon became a one-party dictatorship when Habyarimana, a Hutu,
overthrew the Belgian-appointed leader. Under his regime he continued the
practices of ethnic discrimination developed by the Belgians, only in turn favoring
the Huts, and refused to allow the Rwandan Tutsis to return home. Anti-Tutsi and
pro-Tutsi sentiments were worsened to the point of extremism when greater
freedom of press and political speech was granted, allowing for the publication of
widespread propaganda such as the Hutu Ten Commandments and the Hutu
Power newspaper Kangura (Wake Them Up)4 (Magnarella, 26-7).

Under United Nation pressure Habyarimana signed the Arusha Agreement calling for
greater Tutsi representation both in the government and in the armed forces, as well

as the opening of Rwandas borders to all Tutsi refugees. Hutu radicals were
unwilling to give up their power over the Tutsis, and April 6, 1994 a plane carrying
Habyarimana on his return from Dar es Salaam, was shot down5, supposedly by a
Hutu member of the presidents own military guard. Only hours later, Hutu
militiamen armed with machetes began the outright murder of any Tutsi, political
opposition, Hutu dissident, and UN humanitarian forces (including a number of
Belgian troops). Eventually the Rwanda Patriotic Front managed to defeat the Hutu
militias and, after having declared a ceasefire, attempted to create a new
government, attempting once again to maintain the parameters of the Arusha
Accords. The death toll, the number of displaced persons and the sociopolitical
chaos is all at this point irrelevant. It was an irrational act drawn from the abstract
animosities developed through years of severe psychosocial intervention by foreign
governing practices. The origin of the violence is connected to how Hutu and Tutsi
were constructed as political identities by the colonial state, Hutu as indigenous and
Tutsi as alien (Mamdani, 34). The Belgians somehow managed to inadvertently
create overwhelming Hutu nationalism fueled by a deep hatred for those who had
been unjustly favored by a white power. As a result the Tutsis became a pawn in the
Belgium governments plans to expand their power and Hutus perceived this as the
ultimate threat of internal betrayal.

This section is particularly relevant because it permits the mapping of society along
the lines of evolutionary progress. According to the Marxist analysis, the orthodox
path of societal advancement will carry all societies through the primitive state of
communes to feudalism. In pre-colonial African societies this progression had
already commenced to the point where informal trade agreements among
individuals and small groups had been established. Climate and topography of a
region generally prompt the onset of a certain governing practices that best lend
themselves to the accessibility of food and shelter. Before the arrival of Western
influences, equatorial east African agriculture remained on a small-scale due to the
unavailability of large expanses of land that could easily be cultivated. With
productivity remaining low, and the difficulty in conservation of plantation corps,
communities were never confronted with the dilemmas associated with
accumulation of surplus. The onset of surplus productivity traditionally transitions
into a society of internal exploitation practices and creation of a lower class. In the
Rwanda-Burundi region, however, coexistence and collective ownership took
precedence over pre-capitalist aristocracies (Gakou). In the United States, slavery
was the response to the need for a large peasant class that could be repressed and
uncompensated for their labor. The rigid class structure existing in Africa was
limited to the community level, usually within tribes. Although the groups were
already differentiated through industry and possibly wealth, there was never an
apparent superiority with regards to ethnicity (Green, 733-755). There was an

almost mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship wherein the three groups could
exchange among their respective trades.

Upon arriving in Africa, Belgians became aware of the lack of central power in a
number of countries, which implied a significant weakness when it came to unifying
defenses against colonial invaders. Powers seeking to expand will not attack
stronger nations unless they feel threatened by their political influences or their
military capabilities. It was almost as though they could rule over Belgian East Africa
by turning its people against each other essentially it was a divide and conquer
tactic. If nations as a whole act upon the model of the individual man in the state of
nature as theorized by Hobbes, then it would only be logical for Belgium to act in
this way. There was no bond of loyalty or nationalism between the European
colonizers and the African colonies; from the perspective of the Western World
Africa was a distant and uncivilized land. But what it symbolized is of utmost
importance. It was essentially the tiebreaker between the great powers of the world;
those that reaped the most benefits from their colonies in Africa would extend their
power on an international scale. From a purely security standpoint, it would be
important for countries to build up their strength by gaining more resources to
improve military capabilities, extending their power stations throughout the world
and simply rise as a dominating world power. Politically speaking, colonization was a
rational and necessary step that had to be taken in order to be a competitor and
avoid being conquered by another.

Another dimension that may help in distinguishing whether colonialism did in fact
have an abnormal influence on changing the course of history in some of its
territories is realizing the international response to the matter. The United Nations
(UN) seems to be asking themselves just this: that we must consider the causes
and consequences of those ills which, historically, have been brought about largely
by slavery, colonialism and wars of conquest. The United Nations Sub-Commission
on Human Rights Resolution 2002/5 clearly acknowledges the humanitarian aspect
of the tragedy of colonialism as crimes against humanity. Reparations are directly
addressed as something that the Powers are responsible to acknowledging. Having
said that, it is not traditionally a matter of reimbursement monetarily but it is rather
a societal paradox. Because the UN calls for improvement in the education system,
it gives strong indications that the affects of colonialism had lasting psychosocial
impacts that can only be reversed through teaching responsible human rights. This
also makes allusions for gaining accountability for the matter not only in offering
some type of assistance but because offering some type of external responsibility
by a party not directly involved in the ongoing conflict could offer a chance for
engagement. This is not to say that hatred for the western world is a safer option, or
that we should arbitrarily point fingers, yet it sets precedence for the bipolarity of

certain conflicts such as between the Huts and the Tutsis to be reevaluated where
they can gain common ground.

Many theories hold that it is conflict over scarcity and unequal distribution of
resources that creates a platform for civil wars to break out. Rwanda and Burundi,
along with many of their African neighbors were in a state of extreme scarcity due
to the lack of farming technology, harsh natural conditions and the lack of access to
health care and education. No matter how depressing these facts may seem, we
need to keep in mind that there is no necessary connection between a drastic
reduction in resources and deadly human conflict (p. 198). During the genocide,
killing was in no way arbitrary - it was purposeful murder of historically implicated
groups that had been defined in Belgian terms. The relationship between the Hutus
and the Tutsis was so imbalanced that it essentially nourished ethnic
fundamentalism on both sides.

Upon conceptualizing the theory of colonialism it may have been attractive to take
the approach blaming European governments for their implication of destructive
political and economic policies in their host countries. No one wants to believe that
certain civilizations are not capable of evolving in the same way the Western world
has, and here lies the problem. It has become so socially unacceptable to
distinguish certain ideologies as less successful, but, and I find this to be one of the
greatest benefits of being raised in Africa, the truth of the matter is that a great
deal of African society does not revolve around the capitalist norm. Without realizing
the damages, societal norms are being disrupted in order to make them fit
impractical Marxian laws of evolution, when it may altogether be possible that
certain societies do not fit the mold.

In light of maintaining an unbiased argument it is important to take the side of the

aggressor as well as the victim. Development comes at a price, and in this zero-sum
world it usually comes at the cost of another. Colonialism may well have been a
power struggle between countries that had already reached an advanced level of
development and weaker civilizations throughout the world were simply a means of
determining which of them would become the most powerful. The truths of
international politics dictates that exploitation is not much more than a survival
mechanism, and in this sense Belgium profited substantially from their colonies
which have since been left with political chaos, bankruptcy, inflation, overpopulation
and reasonably incapable to developing any time in the near future. I warn against
the damages of allowing nations to adopt the role of victim it will not instill
confidence and certainly does not bring justice to tyrannical leaders who managed
to gain control after colonialism left.

1.) Some 15 years later, in attempt to redeem himself to the European public, he
inserted a simple math problem instead the elitist phrase.

2.) Once genocide broke out between the Hutus and the Tutsis those related to a
member of the opposite group were also targeted as complacence.

3.) Ironically enough when the Hutu militiamen conducted their mass genocide of
any and all Tutsis, in a symbolic act of retaliation they ordered Hutus to kill them
and eat their cows.

4.) Featured on the cover page of this paper, in December 1993, reads: "What arms
could we use to destroy the inyenzi (cockroaches; meaning Tutsis) for good?" This
magazine was published under the leadership of the First Lady of Rwanda.

5.) I remember being sent home from school on this strange and unsettling day for
fear riots would break out in Tanzanias capital city, were we were living at the time.

Gakou, Mohamed Lamine. Crisis in African agriculture. London: Zed Books, United
Nations University, 1987. Print.

Green, Lezlie L, Gender Hate Propaganda and Sexual Violence in the Rwandan
Genocide: An Argument for Intersectionality in International Law, 33(3) Columbia
Human Rights Law Review (2001- 2002), 733-776

John A. Berry and Carol Pott Berry (eds.), Genocide in Rwanda: A Collective Memory.
Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1999. 201 pp.

Magnarella, Paul. "Explaining Rwandas 1994 Genocide." Center On Rights

Development 2.1 (2002): 25-34. Print.

Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the
Genocide in Rwanda. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001. 364 pp.

McCullum, Hugh. "EDUCATION IN AFRICA : Colonialism and the Millennium

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M, Jenny Edkins:. Global Politics A New Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2009.
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Nwabueze Umez, Bedford. "Educated" to Feel Inferior" Convention of the World Igbo
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Onishi, Norimitsu. "Kinshasa Journal; Tintin at 70: Colonialism's Comic-Book Puppet?

- The New York Times." The New York Times. 8 Jan. 1999. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. .

Randall, Vernellia. "Responsibility and Reparations for Slavery." Race, Racism and
the Law. The University of Dayton, 2000. Web. 03 Dec. 2009. .

Stanard, Matthew G. "French Colonial History - Selling the Empire between the Wars:
Colonial Expositions in Belgium, 1920-1940." Project MUSE. Rench Colonial History
6, 2005. Web. 02 Dec. 2009. .
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Chloe S. Manchester graduated in 2009 with a concentration in Political Science
from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.
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