During a meeting over immigration policy with congressional officials, Donald Trump
questioned why the US accepts immigrants from what he referred to as “shithole countries”. He was referring to Haiti, El Salvador, and all 54 nations in the continent of Africa. He also said that he’d prefer that we accept more people from Norway as if customs has been turning away Norwegians by the thousands (spoiler alert: Norwegians don’t want to come here). Basically, the President of the United States said that he wishes the US would stop accepting so many people of color and that all 56 of the nations he insulted are impoverished and inferior, making their citizens unworthy of the US. Not only are these comments horribly racist, but they’re also just wrong.
While some of these nations are going through difficult times, it is important to remember
why these countries struggle. Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake 8 years ago (yep,
Trump actually said this on the anniversary). Many African nations were robbed of their citizens by the slave trade and colonialism. Looking down on nations that are still developing when the US and other western nations are the ones that stunted their growth is ignorant and illogical. And, despite the common misconception, many African nations are thriving, such as South Africa and Nigeria.
These comments are yet another example of Donald Trump’s racism. From the defense
of white supremacists to birtherism to calling Mexicans rapists to being sued by the federal government in the 70’s for not renting apartments to black tenants, Donald Trump has proved time and again that he prefers white people over people over color, and that is the textbook definition of racism. He was a racist as a businessman, as a candidate, and now as a president. There’s no free pass for Trump voters who shamelessly defend him. This racism hasn’t just appeared, it sure isn’t going to go away. So if you voted for him on November 8, 2016, and you don’t regret that choice with all your heart, you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and examine how you look at others.
