Jesus once said, in Mathew, Chapter 12 vs. 25, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand."

Tensions in African nations continue to divide and destroy economies post colonialization igniting political instability, deaths, violence, turmoil, and the displacement of millions.

Countries like South Sudan, Burundi, and Somalia have suffered economically …it will take at least half a century to see things back to normality. Conflicts and divisions are evident amongst African nations, but tensions are also evident even here in the United States amongst our brothers and sisters…… our houses continue to be divided. Black skin vs. Light Skin, Black Republicans vs. Black Democrats, Israelites vs. Black Christians, and the list goes on. In the words of Rodney King, "Can we all get along?" We had our share of leaders that tried to unite us. Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois but Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are the most known, and though they had different philosophies, their agendas were the same, which was unity and advancement for Negroes in American. Since their deaths in the 1960s, we have not seen unity, and we remain divided. Every Black person is only looking out for their own special interest; meanwhile, other cultures have seen significant gains from the Civil Rights economically in the U.S, surpassing Black Americans.

In Africa, countries undergoing conflict are experiencing exploitation, violence, and poverty, while the imperialist nations are siphoning their rich sources of minerals, the ones that had them once slaved in the first place.

In Burundi- this article's subject, a bloody ethnic conflict continues to hover between the Hutus and Tutsis, two tribes that truthfully originated from the same African Great Lakes region. These tribes had interacted peacefully long before European colonization in the 19th century.

The Belgians put the Tutsi ethnic group in charge of governance because Belgians thought they had more "European" features. Rather odd since they are phenotypically alike, though Tutsis might be a bit taller nevertheless alike.

When the Belgians colonized this region of Africa, unity amongst tribes was a threat to their established colony of Ruanda-Urundi; thus, they implemented a racial, ethnic classification construct to separate the Tutsis from the Hutus. The Belgians put the Tutsi ethnic group in charge of governance because Belgians thought they had more "European" features. Rather odd since they are phenotypically alike, though Tutsis might be a bit taller nevertheless alike.

This ethnic segregation worked marvelously for the Belgians. For many years they were able to exploit the land and people of Ruanda-Urundi. Inhabitants were forced to pay taxes and grow cash crops such as coffee.

After many years of segregation and class warfare, the tension erupted into a full-scale civil war between Tutsis and Hutus. Though granted independence in 1962, hundreds of thousands of people continue to die because of this ethnic conflict. Simple class warfare established by the Belgians has had Burundi in economic shambles. If you have not seen the popular film Hotel Rwanda. This is a must-watch film will give you a complete visual and breakdown of the current conflict between the Hutus and Tutsi tribes.

The bloody history of the Hutu and Tutsi conflict tarnished Ruanda-Urundi's hope for prosperous independence. From 1972 both nations bared witness to some of the most gruesome genocides in modern history, a slaughter of about 120,000 Hutus by the Tutsi army in Burundi to the 1994 Rwanda genocide where, in just the 100 days in which Hutu militias targeted Tutsis, about 800,000 people were killed.

Though Burundi struggles to emerge from their ethnic-based civil war, the country remains optimistic with the newly elected president Evariste Ndayishimiye, and a new capital one can only be hopeful for the future of this great African nation.

Follow us on our next journey as we continue to unveil more history of the "Black Gold."

The Hutu-Tutsi Class warfare continues to Demoralize Burundi’s Economy post Belgian Colonization