Where Do We Go From Here? Confronting the Legacy of White Supremacy in Trump Administration Policies

After six months of relentless attacks on our rights and democracy by the Trump administration, many of us are taking stock of where our country is headed and gathering strength for the fights ahead. To that end, I want to share some of my own reflections crystallized by one of the many abhorrent policies this administration has implemented.

One evening when I was a little girl growing up in Brooklyn, New York, my Jamaican immigrant grandfather insisted that our family finish our routinely shared Sunday dinner in time to watch the TV performance of a relatively unknown singer. Miriam Makeba was a stunning South African woman who affirmed her Black pride by wearing her hair naturally without chemicals or heat that would straighten it to simulate European hair texture. She sang in Xhosa, her native language, known for the unique way some words “clicked” when spoken. I can still remember being mesmerized by the beautiful repertoire Ms. Makeba delivered that night, including the stories she sang about her homeland.

When the program was over, my grandfather used the opportunity to teach us about the conditions under which Miriam Makeba lived in South Africa. I don’t think he used the term “apartheid,” but he spoke of the injustice Black people suffered under a brutal white regime. I could tell he was incensed and wanted us to understand why it was so significant that Ms. Makeba, a Black woman from the African continent, was on American television.

As I became more knowledgeable about South Africa, I was deeply appreciative of my grandfather’s lesson but aghast at what I was learning about the system known as apartheid. Volumes are written about its pernicious history and even uglier legacy, but unless you were engaged three decades ago in the anti-apartheid movement, or you are a scholar of African history, you may not know much about South Africa and why it matters today.

Afrikaners, a subset of white South Africans, descended from Dutch colonialists and migrated to South Africa in 1652. They developed a language and culture called Afrikaans and formed the white minority National Party that implemented “apartheid” from 1948 to 1994. Apartheid was a cruel system of racial separation deeply rooted in white supremacy. Like Jim Crow in the United States, apartheid was defined by racial violence and death, separate public facilities, denial of the right to vote and to marry interracially. It ended in 1994 after decades of internal resistance and international pressure to repeal its laws and hold multiracial elections that culminated in the election of Nelson Mandela as president.

The overall barrage of attacks and the lack of knowledge about South Africa’s racial history may explain the public’s muted response when Donald Trump issued an executive order in February prioritizing refugee status and an offer of resettlement to dozens of Afrikaners based on completely debunked allegations that they are victims of “white genocide” and land seizure at the hands of Black South Africans. In fact, no evidence exists to support claims of genocide. White South Africans comprise only seven percent of the entire population, but white farmers own 73% of privately owned farms. White South Africans enjoy disproportionate amounts of wealth and privilege outpacing their Black counterparts on all levels.

On Donald Trump’s first day in office, in head-spinning contrast, he signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and limiting future admissions to “only those refugees who can fully and appropriately assimilate into the United States” and anyone who “… does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.” Justifying the admission of white Afrikaners under these criteria, cancelling flights for others already granted refugee status, and closing the door to others seeking refugee status, who are mainly Black, Brown, or Muslim, exposes the racist and flagrant hypocrisy of these executive orders.

Not only has the Trump administration paused refugee admissions with miniscule exceptions, they have also set a quota of 3,000 arrests per day of undocumented immigrants that has resulted in deportations and detentions without due process, false arrests, separation of families, expulsion to countries detainees have never lived in, denial of medical care, and abject fear and hysteria.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) termination dates have also been shortened for vulnerable immigrants, for example Venezuelans, Afghans, and Haitians, who could face violent repercussions upon returning to their home countries.

To further exacerbate the angst and tension swirling about, Trump issued a travel ban affecting 12 countries—all with majority Black, Brown, or Muslim inhabitants. Thirty-six more countries also comprised of people of color and/ or majority followers of Islam are on a list for a future travel ban.

So…why should we care, and why do we care that you care? As an organization committed to racial justice and the rule of law, it is our obligation to put a spotlight on racism and its overzealous cousin, white supremacy. The Trump administration’s immigration policies are explicitly and implicitly fostering a belief that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that this nation will be better or stronger, whatever superlative fits, with more white people and fewer people of color. As Trump himself has said referring to immigrants, “They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” leaving us to ponder: How do we confront the manifest legacy of white supremacy? Where do we go from here?