The Rwandan Genocide essays

The Rwandan Genocide essays Sacrifice as Terror is witnessed from an anthropologist's perspective. This book, by Christopher C. Taylor, attempts to find reasoning for such a horrible consequence of genocide. He struggles to interpret the meaning of terror in another cultures eyes. What grounds could lead a culture to the genocide of another, especially two that are so relatively close? Taylor challenges this question by writing on his experiences during his two-year visit to (1993-1994) Rwanda. Genocide is not uncommon, he discovers. It is something that the Jews, Gypsies, and Bosnians have experienced. The author introduces the book by telling his personal experiences in efforts to share the terror that he encountered. After the introduction, in a non-biased fashion, Taylor is trying to capture and explain the concept of mass violence. The atrocities that took place during the Rwandan genocide showed how sacrifice and terror are culturally defined. This topic is appropriate because it helps gain insig ht of conflict within culture. This story of ethnic conflict begins with two small African countries of Rwanda and Burundi. About 80-85% were Hutu, 15-20% were Tutsi, and less than 1% were Twa. The Twa was the lowest class, and they were often short or stocky. Above the Twa were the Hutu. The Hutu were of mid-height and average weight. The reigning class was the Tutsi. The Tutsi were very tall, thin, and small featured. Taylor discusses the ideology of the Rwandan extremist, which is the 'Hamitic hypothesis.' The Hamatic Hypothesis, which was a European influence made way for radicals to create ethnic stereotypes. Hutu and the Tutsi began to conceive and carry out these thoughts. German Colonists decided to rule (Ruanda-Urundi) Rwanda and Burundi by means of the Tutsi. This went on for 20 years. The Europeans helped in the rise of the Tutsi. This oppressed the two lower classes, the Hutu and the Twa. The Hutu reformed their way of th...