By Didier Champion
At this point, you should know that Rwandans do not like to be addressed by their ethnic lines. There is a good reason why Rwandans refuse to be referred by these ethnic lines. These labels were socially engineered by colonial masters and we don’t see any need to dwell on them. We have learned the hard way about the danger of tribalism, ethnic tensions, and all the evils that come with it.
Thus, President Paul Kagame is a Rwandan patriot.
Just like any Rwandan, our president is Rwandan and that’s enough for him.
Edit ( June 1st 2019).
Another fellow Rwandan added another explanation in the comment section. I couldn’t beat it, so I will share it. Credit goes to Bideri Nyamulinda .
In addition, if you go by dictionary definition of the word “ethnicity”, it will not apply to “Hutu” and “Tutsi”. These are people who have the same culture (i.e they practice the same traditions , speak the same language and live on the same “hills” (villages). There are no separate areas where only the so called “Hutus” and “Tutsis” live as it is the case in neighboring countries such as Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
He continues.
It should be recalled that the two pseudo-tribes of Tutsis and Hutus were created by the German and Belgian colonialists with the help of Catholic White Fathers as their divide and rule strategy. Later, unfortunately the same strategy was adopted by the first post-colonial leadership to appease their colonial godfathers. Finally this led to the 1994 Tutsis genocide after the leadership had convinced the population that Tutsis are not Rwandans but the enemies of the country and therefore killing a Tutsi was not a crime.
Thanks to the RPF’s victory which also came with national reconciliation among Rwandans. These have become old fashioned terms. Rwandans are proud to be Rwandans than to be labelled as Hutus or Tutsis.
In addition, if you go by dictionary definition of the word “ethnicity”, it will not apply to “Hutu” and “Tutsi”. These are people who have the same culture (i.e they practice the same traditions , speak the same language and live on the same “hills” (villages). There are no separate areas where only the so called “Hutus” and “Tutsis” live as it is the case in neighboring countries such as Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
He continues.
It should be recalled that the two pseudo-tribes of Tutsis and Hutus were created by the German and Belgian colonialists with the help of Catholic White Fathers as their divide and rule strategy. Later, unfortunately the same strategy was adopted by the first post-colonial leadership to appease their colonial godfathers. Finally this led to the 1994 Tutsis genocide after the leadership had convinced the population that Tutsis are not Rwandans but the enemies of the country and therefore killing a Tutsi was not a crime.
Thanks to the RPF’s victory which also came with national reconciliation among Rwandans. These have become old fashioned terms. Rwandans are proud to be Rwandans than to be labelled as Hutus or Tutsis.
Source: Quora
