While I get the essence of @ethio_style's message, I don't think flattening history & pretending like Menelik's conquests & the ensuing systemic violence affected everyone similarly/equally will get us far in achieving the goal of making Ethiopia "a better home for everyone." 1/ https://twitter.com/ethio_style/status/1283378112642854912

We all need to acknowledge the hierarchy of oppression that followed & the lasting damage it caused.

& while "states are forged through violence" is a fact, it is not the truth. IMO, differentiating between facts & truths is crucial for reconciliation/healing/justice. 2/

Simply saying "states are forged through violence" without exploring the more complex truth is dangerous--it lends legitimacy to *current* efforts to forge other states through violence. Eritrea, anyone? Is that what we want? Are we not trying to avoid more violence? 3/

"States are forged through violence" is the precise logic driving a section of Oromo politics. If we want them to stop doing that and seek peaceful solutions, then we need to demonstrate our own commitment to peace by being willing to re-examine Ethiopia's violent formation. 4/

Yes, Ethiopia wasn't created by Menelik but by centuries of interaction (mostly violent) between the biggest ethnic/religious groups in the region. Menelik just finished a project that began long before him. That still doesn't mean his conquests & what followed weren't violent 5/

Just because one thinks Menelik's conquests are understandable/rational given the context within which he was operating...doesn't mean his endeavors didn't cause immediate & lasting pain, more for some than others.

AND: an explanation isn't always an excuse/a justification. 6/

And just because this is how nation-states are formed doesn't mean the violence is just. Suggesting that the violence for the formation of states is just lends credence to those who want to perpetuate that cycle. We should be trying to break that cycle. 7/

And cycles aren't broken by espousing double standards. Why is the violence in the formation of Ethiopia acceptable but the violence some Oromos want to mete out to form an Oromo state monstrous? 8/

Please don't say it's because one happened in the past. First of all, the past isn't some cloud that just floats away. The past has left damages. It has left wounds and scars. Secondly, I am asking YOU--you who stands on today--to give me your take on the past. 9/

And I need you to tell me that while you understand why the violence happened at the time, that you see how unfortunate it was. Why can't you contain this "contradiction" within you? Are you not big and complex enough for it? 10/

To be continued like everything else. (We're trying to have twitter conversations about stuff that should be the topic of multiple books.) 11/11