Tutsis And The Hutus

The Conflict between the Tutsis and the Hutus

The Hutus occupied the Rwandan area prior to the Tutsis arrival in the 14th century. The Hutus were a large population who govern themselves. The Hutus were farmers by nature and a passive people who allowed the Tutsis to settle there without any provocation or resistance. The Tutsis on the other hand, were cattle-herding warriors from the Ethiopian highlands. They were a small population of people as compared to the Hutus. By the 15th century, the Tutsis became very aggressive and took advantage of the Hutus weaknesses in the Rwandan territory. They created a pyramid political structure where they appointed a Tutsi king and mostly Tutsis to the layers of the political structure. The political structure

The German colonist, supported the Tutsi’s form of government and contributed to the growing tensions and discontent felt by the Hutus.

John Hanning Speke, a British army officer, created the “Hamitic Theory”. This theory suggests that the Tutsis were more European than the Hutus because of their physical characteristics. The Hamitic Theory gave the Tutsis a feeling of superiority and power over the Hutus, similar to the Willie Lynch Letter practiced on the Black slaves. In reviewing the early issues involving the Tutsis and Hutus, it appears that the Hamitic Theory used some of the views of the Willie Lynch Letter to keep order and increase the wealth of the

He had complete control over his slaves with little resistance. He was called upon to teach his methods to the slave colony in Virginia in 1712. The Willie Lynch Letter, better known as the Willie Lynch syndrome, posits that the Lynch letter, if followed, will control the slaves for hundreds of years. Lynch stated that he did not have to beat, hang or kill his slaves, therefore, he did not lose profit as the slave owners in the Colonies were losing. He used the differences among the slaves, to create distrust and envy to control them. He expressed to cause friction between the old against the young, the male against the female, the light skin against the darker skin, the fine hair against the coarse hair, and then do the same in the reverse (Lynch 1712).

The Hamitic Theory, which inflated the physical characteristics of the Tutsis, for instance, the Tutsis had long noses, lighter skin, small lips, higher pitched voices and were taller than the Hutus. In contrast, the Hutus had bigger noses, darker skin, bigger lips, low pitched voices and were shorter. The Hamitic Theory, like the Willie Lynch Letter, created a cultural divide that increased the cultural differences and added to the strains of the Tutsis and the