libertylol
  • LibertyBlog
  • Libertarian Book Club
  • Courses
    • RETHINKING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: HISTORY, THEORY, AND ECONOMICS BY ​STEPHAN KINSELLA
    • Cato's LEARNING ABOUT LIBERTY
  • About Us
  • Shop Liberty
  • Policy Analyses
  • libertyLOL Newsletters
LIBERTYBLOG:
MUSINGS DURING AN ERA OF DECREASING LIBERTY

MLK Jr. Would Not Accuse Trump's "shi*thole" Comment as Racist, but "Racial Ignorance" (DMR)

1/13/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
I know that I'm going to start a firestorm with this post, but I think that this is a conversation worth having. It seems that not a day passes that headlines don't carry news of accusations of racism. To be sure, racism certainly is alive and well; I do not want to give the impression that I'm downplaying that reality. It is alive, and it cuts more than one way.

That said, I think that the frequency of knee-jerk, reactionary accusations of racism against people for equivocal remarks causes society to be far too sensitive and even unable to recognize true racism when it manifests. (In other words, if everything is racist, then nothing is racist.) It diminishes attempts to address indisputable and/or egregious displays of racism, thus undermining the very goal it means to achieve.

Yes, I have in mind Donald Trump's calling Haiti and African nations "sh*tholes." To be sure, I am NOT excusing that remark. Should he have said it? Absolutely not. Was it Presidential? No.

Was it a racist remark though? I'm not so sure--certainly not sure enough that I think it should dominate headlines as such. Trump is a tactless man with a small vocabulary, and the preponderance of the evidence indicates that he communicates this way on a broad range of topics, including on many that are not even tangentially related to race. Furthermore, he did not proactively bring up Haiti or African nations, and he probably wasn't talking only about them (Central America also apparently was an intended target). His remarks were in response to their being mentioned both in the immigration bill and orally in the meeting.
​
Additionally, Trump's remarks were not directed at individual people, nor were they directed at specific demographics. They were quite clearly directed at countries--at geographic political entities. As far as I can tell, this is how Trump conveys that he believes that these are countries with significant problems.

In order for that to be a racist idea, it would need to be discriminatory and wrong. It isn't though. There is a reason that Americans aren't beating down the doors of Africa in an attempt to move there.

It is invariably true that Haiti and a large number of African nations have problems that would lead many good, accepting, open-minded people to think--perhaps in different words--what Trump said. Race and tribal warfare. Religious violence. Rape as a weapon. Infanticide. Economic and kinetic warfare against populations by their own governments. Apartheid (until appallingly recently). Extremely high unemployment rates. The use of women and children as instruments of terrorism. Abject poverty. AIDS.

Do these describe all of Africa? No. Do they apply to all African countries? No. One or a combination of them do, however, apply to a too-large number of African countries--disproportionately so. There is much to love about Africa. The picture there is far from universally negative, but it remains true that problems like these are relatively more prevalent there.

This is not to say that there is anything lesser or inadequate about Africans themselves. There isn't. They are victims of extremely poor governance and of circumstances that frequently are beyond their control. They need our help. Alleged Trump racism isn't what's causing these problems though. Extractive, kleptocratic leadership in many African countries is the primary cause of these problems. (For example, can one really look at the Congo and at its horrendous leadership and objectively believe that only racism could possibly cause someone to develop a negative opinion of it?)Additionally, Trump's remarks were not directed at individual people, nor were they directed at specific demographics. They were quite clearly directed at countries--at geographic political entities. As far as I can tell, this is how Trump conveys that he believes that these are countries with significant problems.
​

Trump should not have said what he did for many reasons, including the reality that it will probably harm our relations with some African countries. The remark was cold and unwarranted. Was it racist though? I don't think that we can say for sure that it was.

I agree with Martin Luther King, Jr: Trump's remark probably wasn't a sign of racism. Rather, it was probably just a sign of "racial ignorance."
​

Follow libertyLOL on your favorite social media sites:

Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Youtube
Tumblr
Instagram
Pintrest
Countable: Government Made Simple
Steemit blog on a blockchain
Patreon
Gab.ai
libertyLOL's Liberty Blog RSS Feed

We also run a couple twitterbots which provide great quotes and book suggestions:
Murray Rothbard Suggests
Tom Woods Suggests
Jason Stapleton Suggests
Progressive Contradictions

MORE FROM LIBERTYLOL:

libertyLOL.com

Enter your email address for Liberty Articles sent DIRECT to your inbox!

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    national debt

    Search the
    libertyLOL Archives:

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    March 2019
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016


    Picture

    Enter your email address for Liberty Articles sent DIRECT to your inbox!


    Search and Shop on Amazon.com!

    Tom Wood's Liberty Classroom

    "Get the equivalent of a Ph.D. in libertarian thought and free-market economics online for just 24 cents a day...."

    At Liberty Classroom, you can learn real U.S. history, Western civilization, and free-market economics from professors you can trust.

    Short on time? No problem. You can learn in your car.
    ​
    Find out more!


    Tweets from libertyLOL

Blog Home

Shop Liberty

libertyLOL Steemit Blog

Policy Analyses

About Us

Copyright © 2014.
​

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites
  • LibertyBlog
  • Libertarian Book Club
  • Courses
    • RETHINKING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: HISTORY, THEORY, AND ECONOMICS BY ​STEPHAN KINSELLA
    • Cato's LEARNING ABOUT LIBERTY
  • About Us
  • Shop Liberty
  • Policy Analyses
  • libertyLOL Newsletters