Erica James on Trump's Haiti Insult
In an op-ed for The Globe Post, DUSP Professor Erica Caple James calls out President Trump for his recent insulting comments about Haiti, calling special attention to the history and context of disasters that have affected that country:
Trump’s Insults Pour Salt in Wounds of Haitians Healing After Succession of Disaster
On January 11, 2018, President Donald Trump reputedly denigrated migrants to the United States of African, Caribbean, and Latin descent by asking why the U.S. would want to permit persons coming from so-called “shithole countries” to enter America. It goes without saying that these words are morally repugnant and belie our nation’s invitation to receive “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.”
Whether stated exactly as reported or in some other similarly disparaging form, Trump’s insults poured salt in the wounds from which Haitians are still healing after a succession of natural and human-authored disasters.