The Renaissance Book and Oromo Nationalism

Chapter 3- During Haile Selassie Era

The oppression of Oromos continue under Emperor Haile Selassie who ruled from 1930 to 1974. This chapter chronicles the policies and actions taken by Selassie's regime to suppress Oromo culture, language and identity. It covers the harsh tactics used against Oromo nationalism and any forms of dissent during this time. Emperor Haile Selassie ruled Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, presiding over a period known as the Solomonic dynasty. While portrayed as a reformer and modernizer, Selassie continued the subjugation and marginalization of the Oromo people.
Selassie expanded the system of naftanya, settling tens of thousands of Amhara peasants in Oromo areas. This enabled greater control and Amharization policies. The Selassie regime promoted ethnic and linguistic assimilation to entrench Amhara domination.Oromo farmers were exploited through regressive taxation, with produce taken to enrich the imperial state. Land remained under state control, with Oromos prohibited from owning land. Agricultural productivity stagnated despite growth in other sectors.
The use of Oromo language, cultural dress and indigenous religion were officially banned and suppressed. Publication and broadcast in the Oromo language was disallowed. Public education was conducted only in Amharic, denying Oromos education in their mother tongue.Any Oromo dissent or nascent nationalism faced brutal state crackdowns. When Oromos protested tax policies in the 1960s, the military killed and arrested thousands. The regime arrested and executed Oromo intellectuals and community leaders demanding rights and reform.
In the 1970s, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) emerged to lead armed struggle against Selassie's regime. The Derg junta which deposed Selassie in 1974 was initially welcomed by many Oromos hoping for change. However, the military junta continued the repression, exploitation and underdevelopment of the Oromo people.While Selassie failed to live up to his modernizing, reformist image, his regime was characterized by the same harsh control, unequal development and ethnic hierarchy that marginalized Oromos under Menelik. Any cultural progress and relative peace in the country came at the cost of denying basic human rights and stifling Oromo identity and advancement for generations.
The writing off of the Oromo people and their aspirations for autonomy hardened attitudes for more aggressive ethno-nationalist demands in subsequent decades. The struggle for Oromo rights continues to this day.Here are some additional details that could be included in the chapter on the Haile Selassie era and its impacts on the Oromo people:Haile Selassie consolidated imperial power by co-opting Oromo collaborators and local leaders loyal to the crown. This allowed indirect rule that gave an illusion of Oromo representation while maintaining Amhara dominance.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church expanded its reach in Oromia during this time, building churches and schools to spread Orthodox Christianity, often suppressing indigenous Oromo religious beliefs.Amharic remained the sole language of instruction in schools, government and public life. Use of Afaan Oromoo was discouraged even informally among Oromo children. This stunted education and literacy in Oromo communities.
The regime promoted a national ideology and history that denied the ethnic identities and autonomy of subject peoples like the Oromo. Symbols and media reinforced Amhara culture as dominant.No Oromos were represented in Selassie's numerous ministerial and government bodies. Political exclusion was absolute, with no channels to express dissent or derive fair share of resources.State development and investment was concentrated in the Amhara heartland around Addis Ababa and northern cities, neglecting the southern peripheries inhabited by Oromos leading to greater poverty and underdevelopment.Selassie crushed early Oromo self-help movements like the Mecha-Tulema Association that sought to protect and promote use of Afaan Oromoo and work for Oromo cultural and educational advancement.
Harsh military force was used against Oromo resistance and rebellion with civilians killed, villages razed, crops destroyed and populations starved into submission. These crushed any anti-regime activism during Selassie's reign.Here are some additional details I can provide about the oppression of Oromos during the Haile Selassie era:Selassie's regime saw several localized Oromo peasant rebellions against Amhara settlers, abusive landlords and oppressive imperial officials.
These were violently suppressed by Selassie's troops.The banning of traditional Oromo religion was enforced through the destruction of religious sites, sacred trees and shrines. Adherence to indigenous beliefs was condemned as backward.
Under Selassie, modern amenities and services like schools, clinics, roads and wells were disproportionately allocated to non-Oromo regions. This exacerbated economic marginalization.The regime pushed Amhara traditions like Orthodox Christianity, Amharic language and loyalty to the emperor while erasing Oromo identity markers from public life.Oromo historical narratives were excluded from school curricula and the media. Instead, state chronicles glorified the imperial line, Menelik's expansion, and Amhara heroes while omitting Oromo perspectives.
State surveillance, informants and public demonstrations of force created a climate of fear suppressing Oromo activism. Arbitrary arrest and detention without trial was common for dissidents.Censorship, harassment and arrest of Oromo artists, poets and writers stifled cultural expression. Oromo media could not publish material deemed critical of the state.Land owned by Oromo farmers could be seized by the state any time without compensation.
Ejectment from land caused severe hardship and sparked local uprisings.the Selassie era saw systemic socio-economic and political marginalization of Oromos despite some modernization and relative stability in Ethiopia during his long reign.Here are some additional details on the oppression of Oromos during Haile Selassie's reign:
The imperial government promoted a feudal land tenure system that favored Amhara elites. Oromo farmers worked as tenants (gabbar) exploited by Amhara landlords.Cultural erasure included banning traditional Oromo names. Amharic Christian names were forced upon Oromos to assimilate them.Selassie's imperial bureaucracy was exclusively Amhara-led. The Amharic language requirement blocked Oromos from civil service jobs.
Amhara settlement and land grants in Oromia undermined traditional Gadaa system governance and threw property rights into dispute.Harsh labor conditions and extremely low wages characterized the lives of Oromo migrant workers in cities. They faced discrimination and were barred from organizing.State military conscription targeted Oromo youths disproportionately for forced recruitment. Conscripts served in oppressive conditions.Oromo women faced "triple oppression" based on their ethnicity, gender and class within the imperial system.