W&L Law’s Mark Drumbl on Propaganda and Hate Drumbl was interviewed on the BBC show "A History of Hate" on how propaganda fueled the Rwandan genocide.
“When the colonialists arrived, they were fascinated by the fact that the Tutsi shared a set of features that they saw in themselves, and as a result, the Tutsi were treated with favoritism in the colonial administration.”
Washington and Lee law professor Mark Drumbl contributed to the BBC Radio show “A History of Hate” discussing the origins and causes of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda by the Hutu. Drumbl says colonialism brought to Africa dangerous European ideas about racial hierarchies. “When the colonialists arrived, they were fascinated by the fact that the Tutsi shared a set of features that they saw in themselves, and as a result, the Tutsi were treated with favoritism in the colonial administration.”
This favoritism lead to resentment among the Hutus, and following the Hutu power movement, voting and political powers were consolidated along ethnic lines. This was followed by acts of violence against the Tutsi orchestrated by the state and fueled by the use of virulent propaganda that convinced individuals involved in the massacre that they were doing good.
“A level of hate was generated largely thought propaganda and brainwashing,” says Drumbl. “Without that level of assuredness and being convinced that one was doing the right thing, I do not believe the level of violence of in Rwandan would have reached the proportions that it did.”
You can listen to the entire piece online.
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