Look, the reason I called my team the Hutu was not to justify their violence upon the Tutsi, but because they are the massive majority (85% or so) tribe in Burundi.
If you look at the colonial history, the Belgians (preceeded by the Germans in the region that put the more 'racially pure' Tutsi in power) are the ones that put ethnic class strife in action where the minority Tutsi were in power. They did this to ensure a powerful, but small elite that could be easily manipulated and controlled (imaging trying to control 85% when 15% will do) by the colonial power.
Over the next 70 or so years, the Tutsi-dominated government and military oppressed, raped, and tortured the Hutu and destroyed entire Hutu villages without warning. In 1972, the violence escalated when ~200,000 Hutu were massacred including 198 of the 200 Hutu intellectuals (those with college degrees- knowledge is power). Those two that excaped, fled to London in exile (one of which is my friend Jean Marie Ngenboye). The other 198 and their families were murdered in their homes on a raid at night by the Tutsi-led military.
In 1993, the first democratically elected Hutu was assassinated by Tutsi paratroopers. The political upheaval caused massive civil unrest where the Tutsi-headed army were called in to quell the unrest and in turn executed hundreds of thousands of BOTH moderate Tutsi and Hutu. During this time, the Hutu reacted by creating a violent militia in response that also led to thousands of deaths.
To say that the Burundi massacres were not led by decades of oppression and violence against them is irresponsible.
The more infamous Hutu genocides you speak of were actually done in Rwanda.
In 1959, after the ruling Tutsi tried to take the life of a Hutu prime minister, the Hutu revolted and massacred ~60,000 (estimates vary) Tutsi.
With the Tutsi oppression still very real in Rwanda,the early 1960s saw the Hutu government give horrible power to the Hutu. This included the Hutu right to kill a Tutsi without penalty. During this time, the Tutsi was the national scapegoat for all the country's problems.
Later, in the late 1980s, the Hutu government made efforts for a multi-ethnic government, but failed due to setbacks. The Hutu government found out about a Tutsi force in Uganda that was trying to invade Rwanda to expedite a more pluralistic government to occur. This instead was seen as an attempt by the Tutsi to return to power. The ensuing civil strife caused the Hutu-led Tutsi massacre of 1993.
So, this should show that simple one-dimensional historical genocides have to be seen in light of what occurred before. No, I have never condoned the use of Hutu violence against the Tutsi. What I do understand is that the ethnic problems of modern day Burundi and Rwanda were exacerbated by colonial rule and compounded by time, power, class, and historical violence. I'm not taking a stand by being the Burundi Hutu, but trying to support a peaceful and more democratic Burundi by siding with the majority over the minority.
