OK, let’s get something straight right off the bat. Most of the people who are criticizing Trump for calling Haiti and Africa “s***hole” countries have never been to Haiti or Africa, will never go to Haiti or Africa, and wouldn’t be caught dead vacationing, working, or living there.
There, I said it. I had to. Because the collective outrage over his comments has just gotten to be too much. It’s too precious, too delicate, like those who heard or read about the comments have never thought exactly what Trump said.
Now before I go any further, let me make something very clear. Trump is a racist, and his comments were indeed vile and racist. But what makes them so terrible is that he’s President of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, and he has the power to enact policies that will negatively affect people from Haiti, Africa, and people of color in general. And that’s scary, it’s dangerous, and for that reason he must be called out.
Let me also say that I spent the early part of my career studying and then working on poverty alleviation in the developing world, including time spent working at the United Nations. And during the course of my study I traveled to Ghana and South Africa, two prominent African countries.
So while I can’t speak for the entire continent, I can say that I had a great time in Ghana and South Africa. And the people there are friendly, intelligent, hardworking, and creative, just like folks anywhere else in the world.
But you know what else they are? Poor. Like, very poor. South Africa is significantly better off than Ghana, with a much higher GDP per capita, albeit similarly unevenly distributed. And guess what? I had a better time in South Africa. To say this isn’t racist, it’s just fact. It was easier to get around, there were more modern buildings, the infrastructure was better, the amenities were better, and I didn’t worry about getting sick as much as I did in Ghana. These are real, tangible factors that influence one’s perception of a place.
I’m not going to go into an analysis of economic indicators across Africa, because the national discussion has already brought out the fact that many Africans are indeed well educated, and obviously people of color have contributed greatly to the construction of this great country we call America. In fact, you could probably say America was built on the backs of the labor of people of color.
But that doesn’t mean I want to go live in or visit their homelands. What really burns me is all the limousine liberals crying out about how shocked they are that Trump used such vile words to describe Haiti and Africa. But when it comes time to book that vacation they’ve been dying to take, or that destination wedding, is Port-Au-Prince or Lagos under consideration? You bet your ass it’s not.
I mean, there’s a reason Trump mentioned Norway as a place he’d like America to accept more immigrants from. Because it’s a beautiful country. I’ve never been there, but from everything I’ve studied, heard, and read, it’s absolutely fantastic. It has one of the highest GDP/capita in the world, a very strong welfare state, much more economic equality than the US (or Africa or Haiti), and it’s freakin’ beautiful, with all those fjords and stuff.
That’s not to say that Africa isn’t beautiful, because it is. And I can’t speak for Haiti, because I haven’t been there. But let’s just say it’s had a difficult time since independence. Which was in 1804, by the way. Now obviously colonialism, US interventions across Africa and Haiti, and deleterious policies by global financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank have all contributed to the difficult state many of these countries find themselves in.
And I also don’t want to generalize about “Africa,” because there are 54 countries on the continent, and some of them are doing pretty well, such as Botswana and South Africa. But still. The plain, straight up fact is that Africa is the least developed continent in the world, it has the lowest GDP/capita, and Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. And both places have been rocked by civil wars and unrest for literally decades if not centuries. Again, maybe it’s not all their fault, in fact it’s probably not. But the Democratic Republic of the Congo was the epicenter of what’s been called Africa’s World War, and The Second Congo War, which ended in 2008, killed at least 5 million people. It’s considered the deadliest war since World War II. And Haiti has seen so much political violence that it’s practically a way of life there.
So even without generalizing, can’t we all just admit that most Westerners, East Asians and people from other wealthy, industrialized countries have the same perception of most of Africa and Haiti as Donald Trump does? They’re just too afraid to voice it, for fear of condemnation. Or, more likely, they voice their opinion when amongst friends and family, or around the dinner table. They just don’t offer it up to strangers.
That’s where Trump made his big mistake, by airing his racial dirty laundry in polite company. Because it’s not for public consumption, Donald! And, it’s also terrifying that you want to change America’s immigration policies because of your racism. I mean, when Grandpa Jack says he’s tired of lazy black people, you cringe, but you let it go. Because what’s he gonna do about it? Most likely nothing. But when the President of the United States says he doesn’t want to admit immigrants from countries where black people live, you have to stop and say, whoa. Back up. That is just absolutely, completely, 100% vile and racist. And it must be stopped. Because he’s the President, not Grandpa Jack.
But let’s not pretend that we don’t all have a Grandpa Jack, or that Grandpa Jack is, in many cases, us. So by all means let’s condemn Trump, and let’s work to prevent him from implementing his hateful racial and social views on our immigration policies, or any other policies. But let’s all be honest too, and not pretend we’ve never uttered the same kinds of words, or had the same kind of thoughts, about the places The Donald is talking about. Let’s just try honesty, and see where it takes us. Maybe it will lead to new, more elevated and nuanced national discussions about race, and why certain countries find themselves in the predicaments they’re in. Or maybe it won’t. But at least we’ll have the truth, and like the bible says, “and the truth shall set you free.”
