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April 8, 2004
Ethnicity Outlawed in Rwanda

I know there is nothing funny about what happened in Rwanda 10 years ago, but this headline still made me laugh.

A Decade After Massacres, Rwanda Outlaws Ethnicity

Although he is not a government spokesman, Ernest Twahrwa can recite Rwanda's official view toward ethnicity with great precision: "There is no ethnicity here. We are all Rwandan."

source

Now, the phrasing made me chuckle, but the idea is a good one. Would that the whole world could be convinced that they "need to be a new person" when it comes to thinking of others as different from themselves.

Posted by ahecht at April 8, 2004 8:24 PM
Comments

Previous Comments

I agree it sounds weird. I also think that while the idea might sound like they are on the right track, it also scares the shit out of me.

It's one thing for a government to be intolerant towards partial treatment due to ethnicity. It's another thing for a government to void those ethnicities. Maybe I read too much science fiction as a kid, but ... but ...

Posted by: Jim Etchison at April 9, 2004 9:21 AM