Trump foments racism in the US

The US president Donald Trump, in continuation of his anti-migration policies, once again aroused the fury and hatred of world people furious towards his racist viewpoints. In a meeting on January 11 with the congressmen of both parties, Trump referred to the immigrants of Haiti, El-Salvador and some African countries to the US, asking as why he should accept immigrants from “shithole countries” rather than from places like Norway.

The White House, without rejecting these statements announced that some politicians in Washington defend the interests of foreign countries while Donald Trump always fights for the American people. Based on this statement, Trump is seeking to improve US migration laws so that this country accepts the immigrants who help US economic growth.

Trump’s remarks and the White House reaction provoked the protest of many politicians and organs all over the world including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Affairs, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who said: Racist is the best word which can be applied for these remarks. We cannot call all countries and continents whose people just because of being black as “shitholes.” Undoubtedly, such a speech by Trump has its roots in racist attitudes that have always existed in the United States.

Racism in the US dates back to the formation of this country and migration of Europeans who occupied and usurped this land at the cost of massacring native peoples and destroying their ancestral cultures. White men from Britain, France, and Spain by immigrating to the US for the first time brought with them the idea of superiority of their breed. They described the native peoples as savage and thus racism started in this land but it was not limited just to indigenous peoples. When the Europeans started colonizing of American continent, between the years 1500 and 1800, about 15 million African blacks were transferred to American continent by slave traders to be employed on farms and in mines. After the declaration of the so-called independence and shaping of the US state, racism not only did not perish but it continued in a new shape with novel techniques and under new disguise. Although the end of war between the north and the south (the so-called Civil War) led to emancipation of millions of slaves, racism never disappeared from the American society and the blacks are still deprived of many civil rights. They are even denied their property rights and do not have the right to hold key political posts. Barack Obama was an exception to the rule.

The outbreak of World War II and the widespread participation of blacks in the campaign against the Allied Front created the hope among them that they might be able to enjoy a situation equal to the whites. But this hope was only a dream. Resistance against racial integration continued in the states where slavery existed in the past. For this reason, the struggles of liberation movements of the blacks continued seriously until the approval of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which rescinded discrimination of minorities in the US. But the evidence highly suggests that despite its repeated claims in the domain of human rights, the US remains as the top racist state in the world. Professor of anthropology at Yale University, Dr. Joe Erington, said: There is no doubt that racism in the US, especially in the central and southern states of the country, is still widespread and there is a long way to the complete eradication of racist tendencies in the American society. A report known as Boston Review clearly confirms racist tendencies in the US. Based on this report, over two million African-Americans face restrictions in voting. In addition, the American blacks face ample limitations to find a job and discrimination in employment is very common in this country. Various studies show the rise of apartheid at workplaces in the US. However, it should be noted that what is really there on the ground is usually much deeper and more appalling than what statistics indicate.    

According to many experts, racism in the US has intensified after Trump's coming to the White House. A recent bloody skirmish between racists and dissidents in Charlottesville, Virginia, was similar to the US racist clashes in the first half of the last century. In this incident, extremist rightists including neo-Nazi groups, the whites, extremist nationalists and supporters of Donald Trump chanted slogans in support of US supremacy and the white race against immigrants, and one racist drove his car over a number of protesters. Reports show that at least one woman was killed and 19 others were injured.

Many people consider Trump responsible for such incidents, saying that he and his advisors directly or indirectly support racist movements and in their remarks explicitly use racist phrases which result in such incidents. Outrage against Trump over the Charlottesville event increased once it was known that a majority of racists was Donald Trump's fans, but he did not ask them to disperse or at least not to embark on violent acts. In his messages, Trump refused to condemn extremist rightists as the cause of the incident. He only said that he blames many parties for these violent clashes. Donald Trump's insulting remarks about the immigrants of some countries are also in line with this thought and attitude. According to Democrats in the US Congress, such remarks clearly indicate his being a racist.

Recent statements by Trump about immigrants caused various reactions by officials in the US and different countries. Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen tweeted that applying the word shithole for Haiti is a disregard for the immigrants’ services to the US. She emphasized that such words are not a good language for the White House. Republican senator Orin Hatch in reaction to this quote from Trump, also tweeted that he wants to get more explanation about Trump's remarks. Congressman Luis Vicente Gutiérrez said: "We are now 100% certain that Trump is a racist and does not accept the values guaranteed by the constitution.”

In reaction to Trump's impolite remarks against the African and Latin American countries, the African Union announced that the remarks were "alarming" and stated: "Given the fact that a large number of Africans stepped in the US as slaves these statements are contrary to the norms and accepted behaviors.” The African country Botswana also issued a statement announcing that these remarks are "very irresponsible, racist and blameworthy." Ross Mubarak, an opposition legislator in Ghana, urged the developing countries to boycott the US as long as Trump is in power. He said that countries should send a decisive message to Trump indicating that the world is united against such fanatical, disuniting and unhealthy policies.

The fact is that the US president who criticizes one of the independent states on the pretext of non-compliance with human rights, is one of the worst human rights violators; for, according to the international laws, racial discrimination and racism are obvious instances of human rights violence which Trump seems to be unaware of.

FK/RM/ME