Prejudice and Discrimination: Rwanda: the Batwa

726 Words3 Pages
atwa are still affected by the discrimination and prejudice that haunts Rwanda. In the hopes for survival many Batwa were forced to do the only thing their culture knew; pottery. The Batwa used clay found near their inhabited area to make cooking pots. However, due to government research on rice cultivation, now the Batwa are being denied the use of the clay (Mathews, 2006). Unfortunately, because of such extreme poverty and no resources for food, the Batwa are disappearing. Those that have chosen to integrate into society are faced with constant discrimination and prejudice. “Batwa children say they dislike going to school because other children throw things at them and call them dogs” (Matthews, 2006, Para 12). The degrading has been so horrific that the Batwa people are ashamed of whom they are. In 1906 a young man named Ota Benga, lived one of the most degrading and appalling 12 years any one person could ever live. In a book written by Glausiusz (2008), she recounts Ota’s tormenting life: Ota Benga, a member of the Batwa people of the Congo, spent 12 years in tormenting exile: After being sold to an American missionary, he was put on display at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, then exhibited in the monkey house at the Bronx Zoo, then sent to work in a Virginia tobacco factory. In 1916 his loneliness drove him to borrow a revolver, build a ceremonial fire, and shoot himself in the heart. Ota’s exhibition in the zoo was the beginning of extensive outrage for many. This torture was an eye-opener to the appalling degrading the Batwa had to endure. William T. Hornaday, the director of the zoo "saw no difference between a wild beast and the little Black man" (Miller & Ejikeme, 2007, Para 4). Miller & Ejikeme (2007) continue by stating, “This toxic blend of bigoted exoticism and cultural domination sets the context for understanding why many are appalled by

More about Prejudice and Discrimination: Rwanda: the Batwa

Open Document