Cultural Historical Contexts, Macro & Micro and Acculturation (Essay Sample)

Intercultural Communication
Name Institution
Intercultural Communication Introduction The human population in Rwanda began to rise after the ‘ice age’. In the late 16th century, the Rwandese inhabitants had already organized themselves into kingdoms. Consequently, in the midst 19th century, Mwami, who was the king by then, exercised continuous processes of administrative consolidations and military conquests. Through this, he ensured that the kingdom controlled almost all parts of Rwanda, which is now the current Rwanda. The colonial strengths of Belgium and Germany allied with a court within the country to ensure that the remnant autonomous kingdoms along the borders were conquered. The largest ethnic groups in Rwanda are the Hutus, which represents 85% of the total population. The Tutsi are about 14% while the Twa only constitutes 1% of the total population. The feudal monarchy of the Tutsi was subjected to social groups. The tension between Tutsi and the Hutus rose during the Belgium colonization and resulted in racial discriminations. The Belgians propagated that the Tutsi was the most superior ethnic group and this, did not go well with other ethnic groups hence violence. About 56.9% of Rwandese are Roman Catholics, 26% Protestants, 11.1% Adventists while 4.6% Muslims. Rwanda is a country remembered for the 1994 genocide. In her book Left to Tell, Immaculee Ilibagiza described her experience as a survivor of the genocide, which is the main point of focus in this article. Macro and Micro Cultural Groups in Rwanda The most unusual parts of Rwanda's genocide that keeps on stunning a decade after the massacre is the high intensity of the participation of the civilian in the war. Other shocking revelations manifested in the speed at which the civilians were mobilized, the speed at which the killings spread and the intensity of the violence as per the number of victims killed (Miller, 2009). The distinctive patterns of the Rwandese genocide were highly linked to the macro and micro levels. These were the two key factors that contributed to the brutal murders of the innocent civilians (Miller, 2009). For instance, the unusual strength of the Rwandese government to the extensive and speed of calming the violence was a major factor. In other words and in the eyes of many, Rwanda had a longstanding coherence and enduring boundaries. This implied that it had the potential of preventing the violence but it failed to do so and hence the eruption of humanitarian crisis. At the Macro level, it was revealed that the killers clustered in families (Miller, 2009). This implied that if for example one brother killed someone, it was possible that his brother would also kill somebody. Other findings indicated that the killings were based on regional patterns. For example, the killings were mostly predominant in the urban centers while those living in the villages were less vulnerable. Power Distribution The politics in Rwanda revolves around the two major ethnic groups, which constitutes the major portions of the country in terms of population. It is noted that when the Belgians promoted the political domination of Tutsi, there was an intensive broth of political resentments (Mamdani, 2001). Hutus had local posts of cattle chiefs, military chafes and land chiefs, which the Belgians abolished in 1926. It is quite unrealistic to note that the Belgians, though being sovereign entrenched the bureaucratic aristocracy of the Tutsi who then ruled over the Hutus. The Tutsi took over the posts of civil bureaucrats, provincial governors and local chieftains (Mamdani, 2001). In this case, the Hutus were denied the rights to rule over their people as they had been traditionally doing before. Therefore, they felt politically repressed and disenfranchised by both the Belgians and the Tutsi. The resentments of politics fueled, and the ethnic gulf between the Hutus (locked out of power) and Tutsi (wielded power) widened. Immaculée Ilibagiza Story Immaculée Ilibagiza’s case is a perfect example of how faith in action speaks louder than words. Her life was dramatically transformed when she and seven other women spent 91 days huddled together in the bathroom of a pastor during the genocide (IIibagiza, 2006). For instance, she emerged 65pounds up from 115 pounds when she left the hiding place. Most of her close family members were butchered during the massacre. Immaculate puts her perceptions on the basis of prayer and the rosary that was given to her by a local church pastor prior to going into hiding. Resentments and anger destroyed her faith literary but instead of succumbing to the rage, she turned to prayers. Her decision to pray was the only way she could divert the negative thoughts that were building on her. She found peace and solace as a result of prayers, which she conducted from morning till evening. Through the continuous prayers and reverence, she found it imperative to forgive her family murderers together with her tormentors (IIibagiza, 2006). Acculturation to the Situation In the context of acculturation, the strength in faith empowered IIibaziza to have a glance of a man armed with a weapon ready to kill her. The killers of her family members were from a different ethnic bloc. When she came face to face with them, her decision to turn into prayers enabled her to forgive them unconditionally. During her stay at the hideout, she utilized her time wi