Shithole Countries and Orange Turds

Fresh outrage rolled across the globe on 12 January when the Washington Post reported that Donald Trump, in a White House meeting to discuss protection for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries, said, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Instead, he suggested they bring more people from Norway.

It does not take a rocket scientist to discern what he meant. But I will spell it out just in case: less black and ethnic people, and more white, “civilised” people.

Being born in South Africa, I take personal offence at his generalisation of an entire continent full of diverse and amazing people. I am incredibly proud of my heritage. I have never experienced a more unique country full of hope, potential, diversity and fight. Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Charlize Theron, and Trevor Noah are just a sample of great people who are respected all around the world. All were born in South Shithole. In fact, the work of immigrants from my little shithole is currently doing a lot to help make America great again. There are 55 African nations recognised by the UN, the AU or both. I am sure there are millions of immigrants and refugees from every one of those nations contributing positively, big or small, to the American story. 

Unfortunately, Trump’s dim view of Africa is not uncommon. In the past, I have been asked sincere questions such as whether we have the Internet, if wild lions roam in our backyard, or whether we live in actual huts. I wish people saw more than a UNICEF advertisement when they thought of Africa. Africans do not want your pity, they want a few more letters in the alphabet: they want equal opportunity.

Of course South Africa is not perfect. It has crime, poverty, and an unapologetically corrupt government. But that does not define it, the people do and they are amazing. And what country is not without its problems? You can find those exact issues in America as well. Perhaps if Trump had grown up in my shithole country, he would be better for it. Not all of us are privileged enough to be born with a silver spoon in our mouths and a golden toilet seat to sit on. Seeing the effects of poverty on a daily basis, the very real people who live through it, taught me empathy and to understand beyond just my own life experience. I understood that I was simply lucky to be born into my circumstances and have all that I did. Living in a shithole country teaches you to work hard for your success and be innovative. There are no rich parents to gift you a "small loan of a million dollars" or bail you out of debt.

"If we fail to suffer with those who suffer, even those of different religions, languages or cultures, we need to question our own humanity." — Pope Francis

Trump’s son Donald Jr. once tweeted a picture of a bowl of skittles, citing an analogy used to justify hard line immigration and refugee policies: 

But the problem with this analogy is that people are not skittles. It is a gross over-simplification because refugees and immigrants are – I repeat – flesh and blood people, like you and me. I see the same tendency to dehumanise people in his father’s remarks about shithole countries. For Trump, people fleeing from natural disasters or war are a mere inconvenience, like religious preachers knocking on your door during dinner to see if you have a second to talk about their Lord and Saviour. Living in a shithole country teaches you community. I have seen people who have almost nothing still try to share what little they have with their neighbour. Life is hard, but it is meaningless, too, if we only ever try to help ourselves.

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Robert Kennedy once said that America’s answer to the intolerant man is diversity. Diversity of culture and thought is what makes life interesting and moves civilisation forward. Whenever I converse with people who are fearful of refugees, I always remind them that Albert Einstein, famous physicist and Nobel Laureate, was a refugee. How much knowledge would we have lost if another nation had not shown him some humanity and given him shelter?

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

— Emma Lazarus’ sonnet New Colossus, on the plaque of America’s Statue of Liberty.

It is easy to label third world countries as shitholes, and easier still to forget the part that America and European countries played in creating said shitholes through colonialism, military intervention (for example, the sponsoring of dictators such as Augusto Pinochet in Chile or the assassination of democratically elected leaders like Patrice Lumumba of Congo), and neo-colonialism. As a South African, I definitely will not forget that America supported the Apartheid government and sanctioned its atrocities.

I was at a market once in South Africa speaking to one of the vendors, who was from another African nation. He had what looked like bumps under his skin. When I asked him what they were, he told me it was shrapnel from a landmine. He said that Americans came and said they were going to help, but it was a lie because actually they were trying to start a war and overthrow the government. I have no way to verify what he said, but history tells me that story is probably true.

"But now, with a most inhuman cruelty, they who have put out the people’s eyes, reproach them of their blindness” —  John Milton

In fact, there are reports that the Haitian government complained in the 1980s that former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier laundered money stolen from the Caribbean nation’s treasury by purchasing an apartment in Trump Tower. The deed of sale was signed by Trump himself. So, when Trump asks why the people of Haiti are poor and live in a shithole, maybe he should instead be asking why he is complicit.

I am unsure why I remain surprised at this point. When Trump announced he was running for President (better days when his election win was just an improbable nightmare), he used his maiden speech to call Mexicans criminals and rapists. However, I take heart at the fact that there is global outrage because it is a pulse check on the health of our humanity. It is when this ignorance and rhetoric of divisiveness no longer shocks anyone or rouses any protest that all is truly lost. This bigoted mentality should not be normalised. It seems that these days it is a constant battle reading the news to not become fatigued by the injustice in this world, but I urge you to never give up. It is not political correctness to call out blatant racism for what it is. It is common decency.

There are no shithole countries, only a morally and intellectually bankrupt orange turd in the White House.

Please enjoy some photos I took below of my shithole country, they are hard to look at, I know.

Photos are copyright to Storme Sen