ABSTRACT
The history of the construction and manipulation of ethnic divisions in Rwanda has had powerful effects on both politics and policies in the country since its independence. Ideas about the origins, essential characteristics, and political identities of Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa became so deeply embedded in Rwandan society that the plan to get rid of one entire group in 1994 actually seemed to make sense to many. This chapter presents an analysis of ethnic divisions to explore some of the reasons why ordinary Hutu participated in the genocide. It explores some of the subtle discursive aspects of the perpetrators’ accounts of the genocide. C. Newbury points out that the ibitero of 1959 were spurred on by rumors that a Hutu sub-chief, Mbonyumutwa, was assaulted by a gang of Tutsi youths. The rumors that he had been killed “instantaneously sparked rural uprisings in several parts of the country: gangs of Hutu roamed the countryside chasing out Tutsi inhabitants and burning houses”.
