The Hutu and Tutsi communities have long coexisted as predominant ethnic groups in Rwanda. The country's fate took a drastic turn with the arrival of European colonizers in the late 19th century.
The colonizers deemed themselves superior to Africans, designating Tutsis, with physical features closer to Europeans, as the "superior race" and enlisting them as proxies for governance. Minute differences, such as the length and width of the nose, were perceived by Western anthropologists as ethnic markers.
Employing the ruse of racial classification, the colonizers shattered the longstanding harmony between the two ethnic groups.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service■
