Thread by @dbeniam

#oromoprotest is a case study of mental captivity.

Oromo NEVER had a country called Oromo, BUT... neither did Amhara! Nor any other ethnic group. Yet since 1991 Oromo got a Federal one. Unlike many in SNNPR.

Oromo was NEVER united with a single Government, neither was Amhara. Just as Oromo was Borona, Guji, Arsi, etc, so "Amhara" was Gojam, Gonder, etc...EACH WITH ITS OWN KING.
Menelik, Haile Selassie etc are "King of Kings", not just their own "Ethnic" group, but all of Ethiopia.

The King of Kings included the Amharas, like Menelik II, the Tigrays, like Johannes IV...AND EVEN OROMOS. Yes, Oromos, with Iyoas the first in 1755.

The Yejju Oromo ruled during the “Era of Princes” from GONDAR itself and OROMO WAS THE LANGUAGE OF THE COURT!

Since Federalism in 1991 Oromo got their own Government. So did Amhara, unlike many other major ethnic groups in Ethiopia like Gurage or Sidama.

Oromo complained schooling was not in their language, this is actually a valid argument. But guess what, 80+ ethnic groups did not have schooling in their language.

Yet this is not the whole story. Western style schooling BEGAN with Menelik II in 1908.

There were NO OTHER Schools in Ethiopia, there was ONE. By 1924 the famous Pankhurst writes 3000 students went through that one school. To pretend like the "Amhara" stole Oromo schools and made them Amharic is factually untrue. By 1930, 20 public schools were created.

The fact that they would be Amharic is just a continuation of over a 1000 year tradition of using Amharic. Haile Selassie moved Ethiopian education forward by building the first AND ONLY University in 1961. It's true that Amharic was the mandated language of education.

But the only competitor to Amharic was Tigrinya and not Afaan Oromo because Oromo was not a written language. Just like 80+ other ethnic languages. Furthermore, only 10% of Ethiopians could read and write and there was an acute shortage of teachers

who could teach in Amharic let alone any other language. Which is why Haile Selassie opened the flood gates to missionaries to fill that gap. The law clearly allowed the use of local languages:

Whatever the case, by 1974 Mengistu reformed the educational system to include other languages.

Oromo complained about farm land, but so did just about every other Ethnic group...even Gojjam in 1968 led a revolt against Haile Selassie.

Aslo it should be noted that the "gabbar" system, affected the SNNPR more than it did any Oromo regions with exception of possibly Arsi. Whole villages disappeared in Sidama, Burji, Konso etc as they fled their lands. But this was not just the "Amhara" oppressing the south.

In Burji, for example, the General responsible for the Gabbar system was from Sidama, go figure. Burji slaves were also sold in Jimma by an Oromo. So like Abiy said, "naftegna" is Amhara, Oromo, Sidama etc...

Since 1974 the Gabbar system was destroyed, Oromo were one of the ethnic groups who most benefited from land reform. In 1991 Oromo got the biggest Federal State Land. Although even the best Oromo nationalits couldn't agree on what "Oromo" should look like.

Oromo complained about the Law, and (this will shock a lot of #oromoprotest youth, so you may want to sit down for this):

Since 1995 the Oromo have their own constitution.
Let that sink in.

Unlike 80+ ethnic groups, there is an OROMO CONSTITUTION WRITTEN IN AFAAN OROMOO.

In Ethiopia today there are Oromo Banks, actually TWO, no other Ethnic group has a bank dedicated to them, NOT EVEN AMHARA OR TIGRAY. There are Oromo Universities, Oromo Restaurants, Oromo Hotels, Oromo Movies, Oromo Fashion. There is an Oromo police force, Oromo Special Force.

#Oromoprotest is not #BLM. The blacks in the US are complaining that they sit in a coffee shop, and police escort them out. They go for a jog, and their neighbor shoots them, they sleep in their own house and the police gun them down in bed.

Are Oromos sitting in coffee shops and getting shot? Seriously, given the accused severity of oppression you would think there would be an avalanche of videos with real world experiences of Oromo oppression in their everyday life. All we have to show for it is just stupid

angry YouTubers insulting Oromo from their western residence. Thats it.

For every grievance you assume is "Oromo only", the Amhara and Somali can match. For every dead body you point too, so can the Amhara and Somali and Gurage etc...we have all suffered as Ethiopians.

Dear #oromoprotest , you are free. You lack nothing.
The year is 2020 not 1890 or 1980. No one hates you because you are Oromo (except some youtubers).
To love Ethiopia doesn't mean to hate Oromo.
Learn to celebrate diversity.
Ethiopia is not your enemy,
Ethiopia is your home.