Page 10 The Skanner January 17, 2018
News
President Trump Continues to Deride African Nations
By Freddie Allen
BlackPressUSA.com/NNPA Newswire
Trump made the comments during
a meeting with Republican and Demo-
cratic congressmen about immigration
reform and President Obama’s Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
program.
The New York Times reported: “When
Mr. Trump heard that Haitians were
among those who would benefit from the
proposed deal, he asked whether they
could be left out of the plan, asking, ‘Why
do we want people from Haiti here?’”
Congressional Black Caucus Chair-
man Cedric Richmond said that the
Diversity Visa Program “greatly bene-
fits immigrants from African countries
and provides an opportunity for them to
achieve the American Dream.”
ivil rights groups and lawmakers
on Capitol Hill condemned racial-
ly hostile comments that Presi-
dent Donald Trump made during
a recent meeting about immigration re-
form with Democrats and Republicans
at the White House.
The New York Times reported: “Pres-
ident Trump on Thursday balked at an
immigration deal that would include
protections for people from Haiti and
some nations in Africa, demanding to
know at a White House meeting why
he should accept immigrants from ‘sh--
hole countries’ rather than from places
like Norway, according to people with
direct knowledge of the conversation.”
The U.S. congressmen that attend-
ed the meeting, according to The New
York Times, included: Senator Lind-
sey Graham (R-S.C.); Senator Richard
J. Durbin (D-Ill.); Rep. Kevin McCarthy
(R-Calif.); Senator David Perdue (R-Ga.);
Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.); Repre-
sentative Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.).
Trump’s disparaging comments re-
ceived quick condemnation in the civil
C
rights community and across the polit-
ical spectrum.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the presi-
dent and CEO of the National Newspa-
per Publishers Association tweeted: “It
is a glaring contradiction that as the US
is preparing to celebrate the birthday
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as a na-
tional holiday, President Trump utters
racist statements against Africa and
people of color.”
In a statement about the President’s
comments posted to her Twitter ac-
count, Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah), the only
Republican serving in the U.S. House
of Representatives of Haitian descent,
said that his “behavior is unacceptable
from the leader of our nation.”
Love continued: “My parents came
from one of those countries but proud-
ly took the oath of allegiance to the
Unites States and took on the respon-
sibilities of everything that being a
citizen comes with. They never took a
thing from our federal government.
“
His ‘behavior is
unacceptable from
the leader of our
nation’
They worked hard, paid taxes, and rose
from nothing to take care of and pro-
vide opportunities for their children.
They taught their children to do the
same. That’s the American Dream.”
Love added that Trump must apolo-
gize to “the American people and the
nations he so wantonly maligned.”
Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), the
chairman of the Congressional Black
Caucus, said that President Trump’s
comments are yet another confirma-
tion of his racially insensitive and ig-
norant views.
“It also reinforces the concerns that
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Civil Rights Groups, U.S. Lawmakers Condemn Trump’s “sh—hole countries” Remarks
President Donald Trump called Haiti and African nations “sh—hole countries,” during a meeting about
immigration reform with U.S. lawmakers.
we hear every day, that the President’s
slogan Make America Great Again is
really code for Make America White
Again,” said Richmond.
Richmond continued: “All of the
reservations we have had about ne-
gotiating with him on immigration
are well-founded. President Trump is
clearly more concerned with ending
the future flow of immigrants from
Africa and the African diaspora than
providing relief to Dreamers who came
here through no fault of their own. Un-
fortunately, there is no reason to be-
lieve that we can negotiate in good faith
with a person who holds such vile and
reprehensible beliefs.”
Marc Morial, the president and CEO
of the National Urban League, said
Trump’s crude statement regard-
ing immigration from Haiti and Afri-
can nations is appalling for its lack of
compassion, and stunning for its igno-
rance about the contributions of Hai-
tian and African immigrants.
“Even more troubling was the fact that
his slur was coupled with a desire for
more immigration from overwhelm-
ingly White countries like Norway,”
said Morial. “Congress must reject this
divisive and racially-discriminatory
approach to immigration policy.”
Rev. Al Sharpton, the president and
founder of National Action Network
(NAN), said that Trump’s deplorable
statements while meeting with a bipar-
tisan group of lawmakers at the White
House regarding an immigration deal
go beyond racial insensitivity.
“For the President to make these
remarks just after he was quoted as
saying all Haitians have AIDS and Ni-
gerians live in huts, demonstrates a
consistent pattern of racism and big-
otry. It is further concerning that he is
doing it in policy meetings that will im-
pact laws in this country and abroad,”
said Sharpton.
“Trump uses White nationalist rhet-
oric to continue to explicitly defile, dis-
respect, and destroy communities of
color. His lack of presidential decorum
is a disgrace to our country’s highest
office.”
Sharpton continued: “We must chal-
lenge the Senate and Congress to repu-
diate President Trump’s comments and
every Senator that was in that meeting
should publicly denounce him. They
should also explain why they didn’t say
anything in the meeting—and if they
fail to answer they should be targeted
by the civil rights community as ac-
complices.”
Sharpton said that Trump’s com-
ments were the ultimate disrespect to
hundreds of communities who believe
in the American Dream — the same
dream of equality and justice that Dr.
King had.
