I went to Kinshasa, Democractic Republic of Congo (DRC) in August 2001 on official business using my national passport (Kenyan).

Upon arrival at the airport, the authorities were hostile and angry at a Tutsi having the audacity to come to Kinshasa. I was travelling with a colleague, a French Man who was using the Diplomatic UN Passport (UNLP). We were met at the aircraft by a colleague from the Kinshasa office who does all the protocol work of clearing arriving staff members through customs. The office here in Nairobi had obtained a visa for me through the DRC Embassy here.

My French colleague and I were unaware of what was going on as we were seated at the diplomatic lounge waiting for our Congolese colleague to clear us through. After a a while he came and narrated what happened and why it took so long. The authorities wanted to know why a Tutsi was coming to Kinshasa. They were told I am not a Tutsi but a Kenyan and a UN staff member on official business. They were showed my passport and they said that no Kenyan looked like me after which my Congolese colleague asked them if they knew all the tribes in Kenya. Of course they didn't but let me through barely conviced.

I told my Congolese colleague: But I don't even speak French! How could they think I was a Tutsi? He said there were many Tutsis leaving in Uganda who did not speak a word of French. Upon arrival at the office, the incident was reported and I was given a letter indicating that I was not a Tutsi, I was a UN staff member and was there on official business. I was to carry this letter with me for the whole week I was there in addition to my UN ID. Other colleagues in the office were surprised to see me there as they thought I was a Tutsi. One colleague took me around town and everybody was staring at me. I asked why they would not approach and ask me right out what I was doing there. She said: The fact that you are confident enough to walk around town makes them unsure. No Tutsi in their right mind would dare do that. So, I asked what the Tutsis ever did to the Congolese? The answer: They helped the rebels in Eastern DRC fight against the government. Boy, that was frightening. But I was well treated by the Congolese colleagues in the office and every night, I was invited to one party or another at several residences. My stay was non-incidental after the airport, I had fun BUT I was happy to leave nonetheless!

Somalis and Tutsis looke alike!

Halima

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Nomi04-25-2004, 11:22 AM
:sl:

Thanks heaps !! And i want more...

And have TWO bebzis on me ... int: int:

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BroHanif04-25-2004, 06:34 PM
Salaams,

I don't understand, Soamalis, Kenyans, Congolese, the black man in London, black woman in Bronx etc etc. All look the same to a certain degree so how could one differentiate whether one is a Tutsi or Congolese? I mean how did 800,000 people get killed like that? Anyway I'm new to this so please explain in detail.

Salaams,

Hanif

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Halima04-30-2004, 07:50 AM
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Salaams,

I don't understand, Soamalis, Kenyans, Congolese, the black man in London, black woman in Bronx etc etc. All look the same to a certain degree so how could one differentiate whether one is a Tutsi or Congolese? I mean how did 800,000 people get killed like that? Anyway I'm new to this so please explain in detail.

Salaams,

Hanif

Salaams Bro. Hanif,

Within the African communities, not all of us look alike. Even with the a tribe. The difference between a Tutsi and a Hutu is the face characteristics. A Tutsi has an oval face and a narrower nose whilte a Hutu is a broad face with a larger nose. Both of the tribes leave in Burundi and Rwanda.

Somalis resemble the Tutsi, Chadians, the Fulani of nothern Nigeria, some Ethiopian tribes, etc. Many a times, I have been confused for an Ethiopian. A Nigerian colleague thought I was a Nigerian of the Fulani tribe when he first joined our office. In Manhattan, New York in 1999, an old African American Gentleman stopped me while I was walking with my sons. He said: Mum, are you Ethiopian? I said: No, Somali. He replied: Ah, Somali! I could have said I am a Kenyan but I found out in the U.S. that many people did know where Kenya is! I was offended a first but later I found out that they genuinely did not know. So, when I was asked where Kenya was, I would say, Africa. Then the nods comes! Meaning they know Africa but not Kenya.

We all Africans but facial characteristics, accent, languange different us again. But I do understand what you mean by how could one differentiate one from the other. As Africans, we have the same problem with the White people commonly referred to as "Wazungus" or "Mzungu", plural and singular. To many of us Africans, a Mzungu is a Mzungu it does not matter where he/she comes from in Europe or America. Because they all look alike.

Somalis in Somalia are killing each other. These are people of one tribe, one culture, one religion and look alike. The civil war which has ravaged that country is based on clanism! Is there a rationale for that? Not at all! To fight on a clan basis is more ridiculous than anything else. The Hutus are a mojority while the Tutsis are a minority. Both live in Burundi and Rwanda. They are both Africans except for their features. The Congolose are of the same feature characteristics yet they are killing each other in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Does this make sense to anybody? Not at all. It is one of the dillemas of this world. Because there is no justication for these civil wars.

Wasalaam.

I fear the point will be lost on some.

All you can do is lead people to information - you can't "give" them knowledge or insight.

quote:

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In Manhattan, New York in 1999, an old African American Gentleman stopped me while I was walking with my sons. He said: Mum, are you Ethiopian? I said: No, Somali. He replied: Ah, Somali! I could have said I am a Kenyan but I found out in the U.S. that many people did know where Kenya is! I was offended a first but later I found out that they genuinely did not know. So, when I was asked where Kenya was, I would say, Africa. Then the nods comes! Meaning they know Africa but not Kenya.

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modern day tutsi's.
http://www.geocities.com/kif_hala/tutsi.html

aethiopid my ass.

[This message has been edited by awale (edited 06 August 2005).]

quote:

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Originally posted by awale:
tutsi

[b]aethiopid my ass.

[This message has been edited by awale (edited 06 August 2005).]

[This message has been edited by awale (edited 06 August 2005).][/B]

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Awale,
I missed you...long time no see. I thought you were in Aden...welcome back to Africa...
Relaxx

quote:

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Originally posted by awale:
Tutsi's do not look like somalies...plain and simple.

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Indeed. Tutsis and Hutus look the same because both are fully Negroid.

Somalis are racially hybrid and so often look strongly Caucasoid:

Though they can also look predominantly Negroid:

Somalis are racially hybrid and so often look strongly Caucasoid:

quote:

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typical somali guys...

quote:

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Originally posted by awale:

typical somali guys...

[This message has been edited by awale (edited 06 August 2005).]

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quote:

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Originally posted by relaxx:
You're so stupid that you don't realize that the white bantu is insulting all Somalis...what do you think this bastard meant when he says 'hybrid'? You see how stupid you are?
Relaxx

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quote:

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Originally posted by awale:
nobody is pure everybody is a hybrid

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quote:what do you think this bastard meant when he says 'hybrid'?
Relaxx

quote:

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Originally posted by relaxx:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by awale:
[B]
The purest Somalis are the ones in south central Somalia near the river's area and south east Ethiopia because those do not have any Arabic ancestry.

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Darod Boy, these people must be familiar with you, next time bring all you big nosed friends and cousins when you come back to Africa:

Relaxx

quote:

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Originally posted by Evil Euro:
Indeed. Tutsis and Hutus look the same because both are fully Negroid.

Somalis are racially hybrid and so often look strongly Caucasoid:

Though they can also look predominantly Negroid:

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Evil-Euro, stop trying to distort! Most Somalis don't even look like those "strongly caucasoid" ones but the "predominantly negroid" ones.

You have not been to a Somalia, let alone the Somali community.

You know nothing of the Somali people or their history!

quote:

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Evil-Euro, stop trying to distort! Most Somalis don't even look like those "strongly caucasoid" ones but the "predominantly negroid" ones.

You have not been to a Somalia, let alone the Somali community.

You know nothing of the Somali people or their history!

Awale, you must be crazy to agree with the likes of Stupid-Euro who says Somalis look black because of Bantu ancestry!!!

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You don't need to have been to Somalia to know how Somalis look like that's just uber nonsense.
And Somalis with ''Negroid'' facial features are not common most Somalis have ''Caucasoid'' facial features.
And i did not agree with anybody i just said those two guys look typical somali.

quote:

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Originally posted by relaxx:
Darod Boy, these people must be familiar with you, next time bring all you big nosed friends and cousins when you come back to Africa:

Relaxx

[This message has been edited by relaxx (edited 06 August 2005).]

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Lame

quote:

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Originally posted by awale:
You don't need to have been to Somalia to know how Somalis look like that's just uber nonsense.
And Somalis with ''Negroid'' facial features are not common most Somalis have ''Caucasoid'' facial features.
And i did not agree with anybody i just said those two guys look typical somali.

[This message has been edited by awale (edited 06 August 2005).]

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Who is the cascasoid or the negroid?

quote:

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Originally posted by awale:
easy..

first one negroid second one causasoid..

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It means even Bantus are cascasoid...lot of Bantus look like the second one...squared jaws, big noise, big neck, big body and of course the really big cascasoid head ...oh I forgot you're from Yemen, you never met a Kikuyu...
Relaxx

Because apparently your terms differ from most people. Here in the America and most of the West Somali people are called "negroes" and at worse niggers!!

The very term "negro" means black anyway, which is what Somalis are, so again I ask...

quote:

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Originally posted by Djehuti:
Here in the America and most of the West Somali people are called "negroes" and at worse niggers!!

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That is true but one's community usually is an indicator of the type/kind of people one is surrounded by. There are communities in US where Christian fellowship is action and not words so people are decent and civil. In most, what they say and do is the exact opposite.

The meaning of the word Caucasian for example is separate from its reality. Caucasians (from the Caucasus area) have always been Muslim, or pro Muslim. WIth the advent of Soviet rule and the mass deportation and ethnic cleansing (1890's) Eastern Orthodox was introduced and 'Christian' rule predominated. DUring this time the pro Western anthropologists found the Caucasus the most homogenous group with the absence of physical Asian and African so they wanted to misapropriate the term and attribute it to a Westen European ethos.

If you know history, you will realize that people of the Caucasus (Azeri, Chechens, Armenians, etc) are considered minorities vis a vis the greater European community.

quote:

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Originally posted by awale:
i live in the states and i've never been called nigger or negroe and many of my somali friends also...

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So! What part of the states do you live in and what area? What you say only means that the where you live, white people are not racist or at least more respectable.

I live in the south, and my Somali friends themselves have told me that they've been called that!

You still haven't answered my question: exactly what is YOUR definition of a "negro"?!!