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Went down a rabbit hole after scrolling around humanphenotypes.net and this page
en.wikipedia.org
I'll summarize this very quickly
The Kingdom of Rwanda (pre-colonial Kingdom) wasn’t “tribal.”
It was class-stratified with phenotypic correlates.
Pre-colonial Rwanda allowed mobility.
A poor Tutsi could become Hutu.
A wealthy Hutu could become Tutsi (kwihutura = “to shed Hutuness”).
Identity followed cattle ownership and proximity to power, not blood.
Colonialism destroyed that.
The Belgians froze fluid classes into biological castes.
They issued ethnic ID cards (1933) and declared Tutsis a "Hamitic" race—East African pseudo-Caucasians; admixed Hamitic type with ancestors who migrated from Ethiopia/Somalia.
Tutsis were used by the colonial groups to enforce colonial rule.
Tutsis were more likely to be preferred by the colonial ruling groups due to the Hamitic hypothesis.
Phenotype became destiny:
If you had a tall frame, long nose, angular jaw—you're a Tutsi, and that meant you were:
Even if you were a subsistence farmer.
Post-independence Hutu elites took over the government from the former Tutsi monarchy adopted a Marxist-style binary:
It wasn’t just economic; it was embodied.
The 1990–1994 civil war radicalized this.
Media, schools, and pamphlets didn’t just warn about “Tutsi rebels.”
They trained people to recognize Tutsis by sight:
Phenotype became a kill switch.
Tutsis were the productive class:
They were the kulaks of Rwanda: visible, envied, essential.
Genocide logic:
Outcome:
Rwandan genocide - Wikipedia
I'll summarize this very quickly
1.
The Kingdom of Rwanda (pre-colonial Kingdom) wasn’t “tribal.”
It was class-stratified with phenotypic correlates.
- Tutsis: Taller, thinner, maybe lighter, narrower facial features (nose, etc.) more Caucasoid (skull morphology); cattle-owning pastoralists; military aristocracy.
- Hutus: Shorter, broader (body, nose), maybe darker, farmers; made up the agrarian labor class.
- Twa: Marginal hunter-gatherers, pygmies.
2.
Pre-colonial Rwanda allowed mobility.
A poor Tutsi could become Hutu.
A wealthy Hutu could become Tutsi (kwihutura = “to shed Hutuness”).
Identity followed cattle ownership and proximity to power, not blood.
3.
Colonialism destroyed that.
The Belgians froze fluid classes into biological castes.
They issued ethnic ID cards (1933) and declared Tutsis a "Hamitic" race—East African pseudo-Caucasians; admixed Hamitic type with ancestors who migrated from Ethiopia/Somalia.
Tutsis were used by the colonial groups to enforce colonial rule.
Tutsis were more likely to be preferred by the colonial ruling groups due to the Hamitic hypothesis.
4.
Phenotype became destiny:
If you had a tall frame, long nose, angular jaw—you're a Tutsi, and that meant you were:
- An oppressor
- A traitor
- A proxy of colonial rule
- A parasite on the Hutu body politic
Even if you were a subsistence farmer.
5.
Post-independence Hutu elites took over the government from the former Tutsi monarchy adopted a Marxist-style binary:
- Tutsis = bourgeois/feudal class
- Hutus = oppressed proletariat
But with a twist: this was mapped onto phenotypes.
It wasn’t just economic; it was embodied.
6.
The 1990–1994 civil war radicalized this.
Media, schools, and pamphlets didn’t just warn about “Tutsi rebels.”
They trained people to recognize Tutsis by sight:
Phenotype became a kill switch.
7.
Tutsis were the productive class:
- Ran schools, clinics, trade routes, cattle breeding
- Dominated bureaucratic skill roles before the 1959 purge
- Even in exile, they trained themselves into RPF officers, doctors, strategists
They were the kulaks of Rwanda: visible, envied, essential.
8.
Genocide logic:
- Dehumanize the Tutsi as racial oppressor class.
- Declare violence as justice.
- Mark the body itself as evidence of guilt.
- Mobilize the majority to kill.
9.
Outcome:
- 800,000+ killed in 100 days.
- ~70% of Tutsis eliminated.
- Infrastructure collapsed.
- A country decapitated.
- Trauma embedded across generations.
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