Lboy
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Reply with quote | #1 |
I am thinking the best person to answer this question would be someone in the type of class that LaCaso is taking. Can Africans tell each other apart as far as tribal phenotype? During the massacre in Rwanda, did the Hutu Militia know who they were killing? If someone who was Black American, Trinidadian or Jamaican had been in town that day, could the Hutu militias have looked at them and said, "oh, he is not a Tutsi, don't bother him". I watched a documentary about it and when I looked at the Hutu and Tutsi, I didn't see one bit of difference in looks. How then can they know who to kill? When there are genocides being committed by Africans of one tribe, can they tell the phenotypes of the tribes that they are killing?
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Ajax
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Reply with quote | #2 |
Good question
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camimo4u
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Reply with quote | #3 |
Maybe there is some tribal look or dialect that only some or most recognize with one another. It's only human nature that people will click and support the people from what ever region of a country they are from. They will fight people who are outsiders even if you are from the same country.
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DeCoste
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Reply with quote | #4 |
First of all, Hutus and Tutsis are as much a racial group as Spanish and Portuguese (in fact even less so). The history of the Hutus and Tutsis indicates that there was a lot of inter marriage between the two, and that one's identity was based on who one's father was. So technically Hutus might have been killing other Hutus (ironic, huh?).
Anyway, I think it functions in the same way different Asian groups tell one another apart like how people from Laos distinguish themselves from Vietnamese, etc. While they can probably tell, most of us who are born in the States or outside of their country probably can't because we haven't been acculturated like that.
A better example might be the way that Protestant Irish and can distinguish who's Protestant and who's Catholic and vice versa. We could probably never tell the difference, but they sure can.
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CaramelDelight
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Reply with quote | #5 |
The Tutsi also supposedly taller.
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Dgino
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Reply with quote | #6 |
Quote: Originally Posted by Lboy
I am thinking the best person to answer this question would be someone in the type of class that LaCaso is taking. Can Africans tell each other apart as far as tribal phenotype? During the massacre in Rwanda, did the Hutu Militia know who they were killing? If someone who was Black American, Trinidadian or Jamaican had been in town that day, could the Hutu militias have looked at them and said, "oh, he is not a Tutsi, don't bother him". I watched a documentary about it and when I looked at the Hutu and Tutsi, I didn't see one bit of difference in looks. How then can they know who to kill? When there are genocides being committed by Africans of one tribe, can they tell the phenotypes of the tribes that they are killing?
I know that this question is not directed at me, but I will attempt to answer it the best I can.
1.Can Africans tell each other apart as far as tribal phenotype?
Most times yes, people from different tribes will have different customs, different music styles(different musical instruments as well), different clothing styles, different ways of speaking (either words, or accents, or both).
2.During the massacre in Rwanda, did the Hutu Militia know who they were killing?
Yes. Their national identity cards included their tribal affiliation.
The rest of the answers should resemble those given above.
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Dgino
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Reply with quote | #7 |
Quote: Originally Posted by CaramelDelightThe Tutsi also supposedly taller.
Tutsis "are" supposed to be taller, lighter skinned, with long necks, and narrow noses, basically more European looking.
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LaCosa
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Reply with quote | #8 |
The class you are referring to, Lboy, I took last semester, and it was not focused on the African continent. And the Africology department is something like the history department, there are course that are broken down into certain areas of focus.
I suspect my former professor would have an educated answer to your question.
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MGMgrande
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Reply with quote | #9 |
Tribal differences are HUGE in Africa. It is and has always been fundamental to African life. Little things like physical appearance, dress, speech, etc. can give you away. In Rwanda, the Hutus & Tutsis were two separate tribes with different origins to begin with. They looked different. Hutus were Bantus--shorter, thicker, stockier. Tutsi were Cushite (some say Hamitic)--taller, leaner, thinner facial features. The Tutsi tended to be wealthier. But in time intermarriage (as DeCoste mentioned) blurred the ethnic lines significantly. So eventually, a "Tutsi" or "Hutu" identity had as much to do with "social class identity" as ethnic. In a many cases the Hutu militias killed Hutus who were "associated" with Tutsi (guilt by association). |
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caribe
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Reply with quote | #10 |
Even an American, if he's astute, can tell the difference between one African and another in a U.S. city with large diverse immigrant African communities.
Here in the DC metro area the differences between people from the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea) and other parts of Africa are pretty obvious. The differences between Somalis and Ethiopians and Eritreans are slightly less obvious to outsiders. However, insiders all know who is who on sight and which ethnic group the person they are looking at belongs to.
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Lboy
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Reply with quote | #11 |
Quote: Originally Posted by caribe
Here in the DC metro area the differences between people from the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea) and other parts of Africa are pretty obvious. The differences between Somalis and Ethiopians and Eritreans are slightly less obvious to outsiders. However, insiders all know who is who on sight and which ethnic group the person they are looking at belongs to.
Ethiopian friends have told me that many of the Tutsi decent from Ethiopians who migrated there. I can clearly see that in Rwanda's current president Paul Kagame. He has an interesting history. He led the resistance movement against the Hutu militia then became the nation president.
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