The Hutu's and the Tutsi's and Belgium Stereotyping

The Hutu's were the largest of the three groups categorized by the Belgium's. According to statistics collected by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States 84% of Rwandans are Hutu.

The Tutsi's were the second largest group inhabiting Rwanda. They are said to have originated from North Africa as opposed to the Hutu's from sub-saharan Africa. Despite their unsubstantial numbers in comparison to the Hutu's, the Tutsi held control over the Hutu and the smallest group the Twa. This made the government system in Rwanda resemble the Oligarchical system. (Where the few rule the many).

This system of government was put in place by the Belgium colonists. The Belgium's believed that the Tutsi were racially superior to the Twa and the Hutu's because of their more caucasian appearance. This signified to the Belgium's that they were the ones capable of assuming leadership of the country. In order to categorize the Rwanda's the Belgium's formulated a series of tests to determine whether one was Hutu or Tutsi. The Tustsi tended to be leaner, taller, and their skin tones lighter. Hutu's were said to be stalkier with darker skin tones. More specific tests however where conducted in order to properly categorize the two groups. Measurements of the lengths and widths of noses were a huge component of the sorting. Those with wider noses were labeled as Hutu's, those with smaller noses were Tutsi (smaller nose generally meant a more caucasian appearance.)
This picture shows the stereotyping of the three groups perfectly.