Colonization of Rwanda    

The Hutus and Tutsis have had a long history of being separate and unequal. It started with Rwanda being given to the Belgian Kingdom by the League of Nations. From the very beginning, the Belgians favored the Tutsi and used a sort of class system to identify between the Hutu and Tutsi. They measured nose length, head shape and used eye color and the darkness of skin to determine differences between the two. With the differentiation between the two groups, the Belgians mandated identification cards that stated their name and ethnicity. The Tutsi were very much a minority and the Belgians believed that they had descended from white ancestors. So naturally to them, they supplied the Tutsis with western education and put them on a pedestal, so to speak. This created many small uprisings from the Hutus in order to gain some power, as they made up roughly 85% of the population of Rwanda. With the Hutus rebelling and eventually winning elections held by Belgians, thousands of Tutsis relocated themselves into neighboring countries and territories out of fear of being ambushed by groups of Hutus and being murdered.

Soon after, Belgians withdrew themselves of ownership of Rwanda which left Rwanda to the violent Hutu population. Constant boughs of slaughtering Tutsis came about every few years. They wanted to exterminate the Tutsi population from the country (WGBH Educational Foundation, 1995-2014). Rwandan Patriotic Front The prominent racial discrimination against the Tutsi continued. Meanwhile, in 1985, a new political party was brewing just outside Rwanda. Many exiled Tutsi banded together to form the Rwandan Patriotic Front that sought to eliminate the ethnic discrimination and demand that they be allowed to return to their homes in Rwanda as full citizens as they once were (World Without Genocide, 2018). The Spread of Propaganda Against the Tutsis

The Hutus were determined to make sure that all of Rwanda was aware of the Inyenzi meaning cockroach. They created radio stations and magazines for the sole purpose of stirring up newfound hate for the Tutsi. The Kangura, meaning the phrase wake others up, was used to spread hate with many editions featuring derogatory cartoons and lies about the Tutsi. It even went as far as writing up 10 commandments for the Hutu in Kangura edition six. It stated what made a Hutu a traitor, whether it was acquiring a Tutsi wife or concubine (Kayibanda, 1990), or form[ing] a business alliance with Tutsi (Kayibanda, 1990).

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