19 - Rejoinders from the Shithole

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.