Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T11:47:09.731Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

19 - Rejoinders from the Shithole

from Part IV - Language, White Nationalism, and International Responses to Trump

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

Janet McIntosh
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Massachusetts
Norma Mendoza-Denton
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
Get access

Summary

This chapter analyzes some of the ideological and linguistic mechanisms by which Trump divulges his racism, particularly with respect to Southern Africa. It draws on the work of anthropologist Mary Douglas (1966, 1968) to suggest that with his “shithole” language, Trump attempts to frame the Global South as a site of degeneracy, dirt, matter out of place; essentially, as a form of pollution. In so doing, he encourages paranoid xenophobia of an historically familiar sort. The chapter also assesses some of Trump’s attempts to deflect charges of racism, drawing on a theoretical framework by sociologist Edward Bonilla-Silva (2002, 2006) in his discussion of the discursive strategies Whites tend to use to defend what he terms “color-blind racism.” The final section documents how media and institutions in Southern Africa have responded to Trump’s racist language, by employing discursive strategies of parody, critique, and egalitarianism to encourage non-racialism. In their rejoinders to Donald Trump, these non-racialist advocates attempt to compensate for his verbal injuries while recognizing the equality and dignity of people throughout the world.

Type
Chapter
Information
Language in the Trump Era
Scandals and Emergencies
, pp. 265 - 276
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

African Union Commission. 2018. “African Union Mission – Washington, DC – Reacts to President Trump’s ‘Shithole Countries’ Remarks.” AU.int [Union Africaine], January 12, 2018. https://au.int/fr/node/33622.Google Scholar
Andrews, Travis M. 2017. “Trump Targets Negative Press ‘Covfefe’ in Garbled Midnight Tweet That Becomes Worldwide Joke.” The Washington Post, May 31, 2017. https://wapo.st/2scpNbw.Google Scholar
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. 2002. “The Linguistics of Color Blind Racism: How to Talk Nasty about Blacks Without Sounding ‘Racist.’” Critical Sociology 28, nos. 1–2: 4164.Google Scholar
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo 2006. Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America. Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Brito, Christopher. 2018. “‘I Am Not a Racist’: Trump Responds to Reported ‘Sh*thole’ Comment.” CBS News, January 14, 2018. https://cbsn.ws/2KznY3i.Google Scholar
Byran, Bob. 2018. “Union That Represents Entire Continent of Africa Blasts Trump for ‘Shithole Countries’ Comment.” The Business Insider, January 12, 2018. https://bit.ly/2r2FiXT.Google Scholar
Coates, Ta-Nehisi. 2017. We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy. One World.Google Scholar
Cobb, Jelani. 2019. “The Central Park Five, Criminal Justice, and Donald Trump.” The New Yorker, April 19, 2019. http://bit.ly/2pxyK2P.Google Scholar
Douglas, Mary. 1966. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Douglas, Mary 1968. “Pollution.” In International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Vol. 7. Edited by Sills, David L, pp. 336–42. Crowell Collier and Macmillan.Google Scholar
EES. “Trump – ‘S**thole Countries’ – Shithole Statement by NAMIBIA.” EES TV video. January 13, 2018. https://bit.ly/37X7hZy.Google Scholar
Gerber, Jan. 2018. “ANC, DA Take Dim View of Trump’s ‘Shithole’ Comment.” News24, January 12, 2018. http://bit.ly/2qjcvy5.Google Scholar
Gerstein, Josh. 2018. “FBI Releases Files on Apartments’ Race Discrimination Probe in ’70s.” Politico, February 15, 2017. https://politi.co/357MRei.Google Scholar
Hill, Jane H. 2008. The Everyday Language of White Racism. Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holan, Angie Drobnic. 2019. “In Context: Donald Trump’s ‘Very Fine People on Both Sides’ Remarks (Transcript).” Politifact, April 26, 2019. http://bit.ly/2r7nlHg.Google Scholar
Kim, Seung Min. 2018. “Nielsen Testifies: ‘I Did Not Hear’ Trump Say ‘Shithole.’” Politico, January 16, 2018. https://politi.co/35hfyFH.Google Scholar
Kirby, Jen. 2018. “Trump Wants Fewer Immigrants from “Shithole Countries” and More from Places like Norway.” Vox, January 11, 2018. https://bit.ly/2DEMLyY.Google Scholar
Monyane, David, and Ndzendze, Bhaso. 2018. “A Glaring Ignorance Shown of Africa.” The Independent Online, January 16, 2018. http://bit.ly/2D0gUZn.Google Scholar
News24 Wire. 2018. “US Embassy Must Explain ‘Shithole’ Comment, Says Dirco.” The Mail and Guardian, January 14, 2018. http://bit.ly/2QF2J45.Google Scholar
PBS NewsHour. 2018. “Watch: ‘That’s Such a Racist Question,’ Trump Tells News Hour’s Yamiche Alcindor.” PBS NewsHour video. November 7, 2018. https://bit.ly/2svHh7j.Google Scholar
Segura, Liliana. 2016. “Donald Trump’s Ugly Attack on the Central Park Five Reflects All-Too-Common Attitude.” The Intercept, October 11, 2016. http://bit.ly/32YC4Si.Google Scholar
Scott, Eugene. 2018. “Six Times President Trump Said He Is the Least Racist Person.” The Washington Post, January 17, 2018. https://wapo.st/2XAonrC.Google Scholar
Trump, Donald (@realDonaldTrump). 2018. “Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said “take them out.” Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings – unfortunately, no trust!” Twitter, January 12, 2018. https://bit.ly/34GHAdF.Google Scholar
Trump, Donald. 2017a. “Trump: ‘I Have the Best Words.’” The Washington Post video, 0:22. April 5, 2017. https://wapo.st/33HMJkk.Google Scholar
Trump, Donald 2017b. “Remarks by President Trump on Infrastructure.” WhiteHouse.gov, August 15, 2017. https://bit.ly/33CRlIJ.Google Scholar
The Washington Post. 2017. “Watch Trump’s Full Speech to African Leaders.” The Washington Post video. September 21, 2017. https://bit.ly/2rN1oOg.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×