Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Forgive and FOrget? what happened to Truth and Justice?

I have to say I am FURIOUS! So today, let us get personal. I have chosen to be a Burundian first, before identifying myself as a Hutu-Something I am proud of. I love my country, I love the people, and I love that in our simplicity and our difficulties, we swim against the tide to find joy in the smallest of matters. However, until recent, I seem to have forgotten just how much it means to be a Hutu. I just finished reading two books by Burundians- both Tutsis.

And like the general narrative, they glorify Tutsis as the smart, more advanced victim to the more inferior Hutus_which by the way surprises me. How did the superior Tutsis become victims of the uneducated and more country bumpkins Hutus? That’s not my narrative- read the books and you will find that I am not off the mark here. You might have heard about them, and probably some of you have read them and celebrated the wonders of the stories told. But the more I read the books, I became furious! FURIOUS! Until then, I was okay with US-Supported murderers aka Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni. (I dare anyone to find the opposite)…then I can direct you to the History of RPF and then their direct involvement with US military...and their eventual plans and execution of assassination of presidents of Both Burundi and Rwanda. Am I wrong to be furious now…after so many years? Until now, I was not aware just exactly the extent of the falsified narrative that makes Hutus perpetrators and Tutsis the victims. Read the history, find the opposite. I sympathize with those who died at the hands of the Hutus ( I do not agree with them), but what about the Hutus who have been victims years before that, and continuously so?

How is it that we are allowing a murderer to be praised and admired for his "good work"? How do we allow a president who was part of the problem? Does that make sense to anyone else? Burundi and Rwanda are relatively small, and in the scheme of things, they command little respect, and have little to offer as far as resources go. What they do have is good coffee and good tea, and a good people who have suffered at the hands of manipulation by an elite.

Yes, that is the story of African political systems….but today; I am just angry, plain and simple. Angry that a man who killed more people than Idi Amin, is leading Rwanda. That a woman who lost her husband is being sought out as a murderer... all because her husband was president. More even so that the media see my ethnicity as a people of murderers. I am not saying we are innocent, but we have been victims and we continue to be victims all because there are some authors who have gotten hold of good press, and the US favors a murder. It’s not the first time, after all-Mugabe is still in power.

While I might be furious, angry, and all that pissy fit….I am not bitter. I walked past the bitterness, and now just dealing with the aftermath of that. Progress is sure in both Burundi and Rwanda-if the New York Times is reporting about Burundi’s nightlife rather than the dead bodies, the change in gvt, or refugees, then you can be sure that there is progress. There is hope from the ashes, but the hope should not be misplaced and interpreted as justice and truth. When media celebrates one ethnicity and praises murderers, then there is a problem. The Hutus in both Burundi and Rwanda deserve their day in court- not literally, but they do deserve a fair look at their victimization. Forgive, but do not forget where you came from, because it is the same mistakes of the past that will be repeated.

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