"tribalism"

A lot of news (especially US news) is reporting on the violence in Kenya as if it's "tribal," based on ethnic tensions. I've had a number of conversations with my partner and his parents about the inaccuracy of this type of analysis. They say you can't ignore that people have tribal loyalties and notice tribal affiliations, but it's also wrong to assume that people are only loyal to tribal connections. Tribal connections, like all affiliations, are subject to manipulation. And in this case, they are being manipulated.
The gist of it is: It's a long-standing case of tribal affiliations being manipulated. The leadership of one tribe siezed the opportunity to control political and economic power to raise the fortunes of only its own people. They continue to do so, and the rest of the country, who has been left disenfranchised and left out of the so-called strong Kenyan economy, these people are pissed off and tired of misrepresentation and unequal opportunity. It's a long story. And--I would suggest--it's a very similar story to the "tribal conflicts" of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. I would also suggest it's a familiar story about race in the US. Systematically using political and economic power to improve the fortunes of a portion of the country instead of improving the lot of everyone.