Batwa 1
- Assignment: Prejudice and Discrimination Article
Due Date:Day 7 Individual Forum
Imagine you are going on a 6-month expedition to a foreign country to experience the diversity of this country and study the affect of prejudice and discrimination within this country. While you are there, you journal your experiences and then write an article that will be published in a travel magazine.
- Choose a foreign country in which there has been well-documented instances of discrimination against certain races or cultures such as:
- India: the Dalits and Adivasis
- Bosnia: the Muslims and Croats
- South Africa: the Coloureds or Black Africans
- Indonesia: the Chinese
- Rwanda: the Batwa
You can choose from the above list or you may submit a request to the instructor to research another country. Submit your request by Day 4.
- Write a 1,050- to 1,750-word article for the travel magazine with a focus on the affect of prejudice and discrimination on various cultures within the country you have chosen to visit. Cite 3 to 5 sources; at least two must come from the Online Library. Try search terms such as “cultures in (country),” “discrimination in (country),” “ethnic groups in (country),” etc. You may also refer to the Recommended Web Sites list in the Electronic Resources section at the beginning of this syllabus for additional sources.
Note: Sources other than those from the Online Library or the Recommended Web Sites list must be approved by the instructor.
- Include the following in your article:
- A description of the various cultures as well as the races and ethnicities that exist within this country
- A clear differentiation between race and ethnicity
- Examples of discrimination against a culture, race, or ethnic group in this country and an explanation of why the discrimination exists
- A description of the ways the discrimination has affected the people of this country and conditions that have resulted from the discrimination such as segregation, political unrest, poverty, or war
- Format your paper according to APA standards.
- Submit your paper as an attachment.
This paper must contain a title page that has the following information:
The Batwa
Sean Delevan
AxiaCollege of University of Phoenix
The Batwa: Discrimination and Prejudice
AxiaCollege of University of Phoenix
The country of Rwanda consisted of three divisions of ethnic groups. They were the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa, or also known as Batwa. The reason why there was a division of ethnicity was the perception that they were from different origins. They all looked very similar with minor physical differences, so in regards to race, they were the same. One of the differences of physical features was height. The Hutu and Batwa were considered short, with the emphasis of being inferior. The Tutsi were regarded as powerful, as they were taller and considered handsome. These were the stereotypes when the conflict between all of them clashed. The divisions between them were very political from a broader point of view than anything else. Despite differences,all three groups spoke the same language, practiced the same religions, so in essence, they had the same culture.
In simple terms, race and ethnicity are different, in that race describes a person’s appearance. The person’s race is described as the skin color of a person, and other things that can define him or her biologically such as hair color, eye color, bone/jaw structure, etc. Ethnicity is defined as a person’s ancestry, beliefs, and nationally. For example, the Caucasian race can be described that of light skin, thin lips, narrow noses, and straight hair. However there are many types of ethnicities of the Caucasian race, which include Irish, German, Iranians, German, Canadians, etc.
Many experts believe that the Batwa were the first people of Rwanda, as they were considered the hunter gatherers of the group. The Batwa are made up the smallest percentage of the group which equated to about 1 percent of Rwanda. The percentage was higher before the massacre of genocide took place. The conflict was heavily debated amongst the Hutus and Tutsis. The Batwa were just in the middle and ended up suffering as well. It was estimated that about 10,000 Batwas died during the war, which is a big number in terms of the percentage. The number of deaths total for everyone in Rwanda was close to a million. The majority of the population was Hutus and Tutsis, however Batwas were caught in the middle of the event and ended up suffering from the discriminatory hatred of the Hutus and Tutsis. There were many instances when the Batwa faced discrimination and prejudice. Those who opposed the Batwa group call them thieves. The word used to describe was abayanda,which means people who steal. Batwas were also considered to be dirty and uncivilized, in which others often used the term abashenzi to describe them. The discriminatory statements included descriptions of depicting that they were immoral, depraved, poor, and social outcasts. There are examples of Batwa children being mocked and displaced in schools as they could not afford to pay for textbooks and resulted to the Batwa becoming beggars. Another example of prejudice statements included accusing the Batwa people of destroying gorillas, as others believe they eat them. That is not the case as experts believe true, because Batwascoexisted with them long before. This accusation has led to banning of hunting and gathering of the forests of Rwanda. This utterly destroyed the Batwa civilization and way of life because it destroyed their economic prosperity or whatever they had to economic survival. Since Batwas are regarded as hunter-gatherers, their duties were to collect things from the forest. Now that they banned those practices, Batwas have traded their labor for food to eat to the farmers. Batwas end up becoming landless and deprived of their civil rights. By far the biggest discrimination against the Batwa group is the lack of attention government gives to them. There is virtually no representation in political powers to aid the Batwa and the fact how the war caused them to be even more displaced from society. Batwa has become known as the forgotten people.
There is not one reason why discrimination exists because the answer to it would be an opinion not necessarily a fact. I believe discrimination existed and continue to exist is because of lack of education. A person discrimination against another because they lack the understanding of others and in which gives them conclusions about the other based on menial, or gossip form information. Another reason why discrimination existed especially against the Batwa is probably politically, or power motivated. They might have just used the ethnic prejudice as a tool to make them feel inferior to others. It is the classic monarch society, in which one group of people rank superior because they say so. Discrimination could have existed against the Batwa because the elite decided to promote hatred and propaganda against them, in order to rule, or that they were being a distraction in their true quest for rule. It could also stem from a broader point of view, that as human, any species for that matter, we tend to abase others for the feeling of making oneself feel better.
The simple fact that Batwas are still struggling today with virtually little or no aid from government powers, shows that our society is still unjust and unfair. It is important to understand this because it not only hinders our growth as a country like that of Rwanda, but also as humans. Who is to say that one group is better, or deserves help compared to another? Some hope is given to Batwa children as educational facilities have been opened to dedicate the need for the Batwa family. Children are able to get better education and better lives as their parents who were used to the life a hunter-gatherer has become an obsolete occupation and way of life. It is a new world for the Batwas, however they still face problems, the schools specially built for them is the first step to making change.
References
______(2008)Rwanda. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from
______(1994). Rwanda's forgotten tribe. Geographical 66, no. 7: 5. Retrieved October 19, 2008, EBSCOhost Database.
Twa. (2008). Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from Grolier Online
Vansina, J.(Nov 2004).Bantu-Batwa history.The Journal of African History,45,3.p.494(2).RetrievedOctober 19, 2008,fromGeneral OneFileviaGale: