While the refugee system is suspended for the rest of the world, a new order from President Trump creates a special exception for white South Africans facing "race-based discrimination."
A comment to the South Africans here: I don’t think anyone is discounting the violence and anti-white laws in South Africa. I’m sure it’s horrifying to live as people have described. I think the point is that governments and militias all over the world are doing horrifying stuff to people, yet the mechanisms we have in this country to protect people from harm have all been shut down. Laws have been passed to take away legal status from and deport brown and black people. The situation in Haiti is horrifying. Same with Nicaragua and Venezuela, the Congo, Myanmar. Yet in the midst of all of these despicable actions, one group has been singled out for a protection that legally they can’t access, and that’s white people from South Africa. We have to ask ourselves why single out this one group in a world where people are harmed on a daily basis? (My answer is Elon Musk)
I assume you weren’t born and grew up in South Africa. I assume you don’t have children who won’t be able to get into medical school because they have excellent marks but have the wrong skin colour. I assume you don’t have teenagers that can’t work as a packer or waiter because they have the wrong skin colour. I assume you don’t own a business that is pressured to have people with certain skin colours employed irrespective of their merit simply to be able to get certain contracts. I assume you don’t have a 6-foot wall with barbed wire or electric fencing on top, with an outside beams, an inside alarm and a panic button linked to a private security company at you primary residence in an average neighbourhood. I assume you don’t do drills with your preschoolers about what to do in a possible burglary. I assume you don’t have dogs as protection, but actually just as pets.
I assume you don’t have to struggle to get a legal fire arm license for self-defense when the criminals come in with illegal automatic rifles. I assume you’ve never had a knife to your stomach when you went to buy your son a pair of binoculars and a random person on the street decided he wanted to take your wallet when you came back to the car. I assume you haven’t come into the office just to hear your colleague crying and swearing because the parents of her friend were murdered on their farm and nothing was stolen. I assume you haven’t become numb to hearing of these brutal murders over and over again. I assume you haven’t had to say good bye to eleven of your closest friends from university, because they have to choose between their children’s future and their aging parents and try to get a second citizenship before they are too old. I assume you’ve never heard parents crying about not seeing their grandchildren and yet encouraging their children to leave the country. I assume you’ve never had to look over your shoulder taking a walk in the neighbourhood wondering whether the person approaching you is going to be the next owner of your phone. I assume you’ve never thought it’s pointless to make a case at the police because the murderer won’t be caught anyways, even if there is video footage. I assume you’ve never had to watch how everything that worked is steadily broken down. I assume you’ve never had the poignant memory of how a park was beautiful, and now looks like a rubbish dump because the municipality takes no pride in their work. I assume you’ve never had Stage 6 loadshedding. I assume you’ve never run out of water in the capital city of your country because proper maintenance was not done and no fore thought was implemented for expansion.
I assume you have streetlights that work. I assume you have hope that your kids will find employment and not have to jump through endless hoops and rack up degrees just to get a normal job.
I assume you’ve never felt how it feels to be called a racist whenever you try to say that people who know how to grow food are being targetted and killed. I assume you don’t really think that when there are rallies where people sing about murdering farmers it is just for fun and entertainment.
I assume you’ve never thought that people can be white and yet see that Apartheid was wrong. I assume you don’t really think that racism can’t be fought by more racism and somehow be good.
I assume you’ve never had to be continually guilted for something you had no part in, and would’ve opposed if you were old enough to do so.
I assume you’ve never felt utterly helpless and forgotten by the world and when one person who can actually provide assistance tries to do so, he gets called a bully and you are shamed once again for even thinking that you can be treated like most other humans.
Not a single thing you said contradicts (or even addresses) anything I’ve written in this article. I’m very sorry you feel unsafe. That doesn’t change the facts I laid out or the context I which this executive order was made.
Nonetheless, refugee status is based on a particular definition. Refugees (designated asylees inside the US) are persons forced to flee (and there are legal arguments about how far they must flee) because of persecution (again lots of legal arguments about how about this but it is a high bar) or a well founded fear of persecution (well-founded also having requirements) on one of five enumerated grounds which include race and political opinion. It must be by the government or a group they are unable govt is unable or unwilling to control. It sadly excludes many, many dangerous situations. It excludes general violence. It excludes war absent fitting in the definition. It excludes a volcanic eruption making a country uninhabitable. Trump did not attempt to explain how this designation fit. And he could use a tool for more general protection such as TPS.
White settler colonialism... It's still with us in the 21st century. The pearl clutching in the comments here is pathetic. Whites should learn what they as invading colonizers inflicted upon indigenous peoples by stealing their lands and resources would one day come back to bite the children of white invaders in their backsides. But racists seldom learn moral lessons, I'm told.
Ella... do not even waist your breath on Austin and Thomas... they should come down to South Arica, and to attempt to start a profitable business after first giving 51% or more of the ownership to non-white citizens. After this, you start paying company tax, capital gains tax, and personal income tax for which you get absolutely nothing - except ANC driven state corruption, nepotism and failing infrastructure (or what's left of it 30 years after the so called democracy that we now have). Apart from the disenfranchisement of private ownership in business and the aforementioned taxes, then you have to pay for your own schooling, medical aid, transportation, solar system (because there is no reliable electricity left), security services (because the police service is no existent), etc. Last, but not least, your physical private property can now also be taken and used by our most effective, ethical and astute freedom fighter government without compensation. The saddest part of it all is that Austin writes about South Africa from his moral little ivory tower as if he understands our country. He has no clue about the intricacies and nuances in our history - on both sides of the coin. Perhaps he'll have greater clarity of mind when three (3) of his neighbouring farming families have been murdered in cold blood as a result of black politicians (yes - sorry to label a fact) on a daily basis calling for the murder of white people (and in particular the Afrikaner) on national television, parliament and a Human Rights Council that has banned the previous flag of South Africa but refuses to ban and prosecute politicians individuals who sing songs publicly about "Killing the Boer" (please feel free to fact check - its freely available on YouTube, etc). So that my dear Austin and Thomas is the reality down at the southern tip of South Africa. I'll respect your "Fantastic Article" and "Great Work" once you have lived in South Africa WITHOUT the comfort of your US or Canadian visa. Both of your are welcome as a refugees in my house when you meet this criteria.
I explicitly bracket those questions as beyond the scope of this post. If you don't agree with the way that South Africa is governed at the moment, that's your perspective and you seem to raise legitimate concerns. The whole point of the asylum system is that anyone, yourself included, can use that system if you feel that you are facing persecution on protected grounds.
It's the truth, coming from a South African, 95% of all bursaries are given to the black majority. Over 80% of students in university is the black majority. They've been singing chants in the parliament about killing the white boer, they did as well, go and Google farm murders. And white business needs to pay 4% of their net profits to black business or they can't partake in the market. The BELA law forces schools to not teach Afrikaans. And now they can take Afrikaners land without compensation. Sorry but there is a racial revenge happening in South Africa. Just open your eyes.
It is not unusual for government favor to figure into asylum claim adjudication. Countries the US wants to promote as allies are often not found to be persecuting people (or allowing persecution by a group they are unable or unwilling to control), but this explicit reference to relations with Israel goes a giant step further.
A comment to the South Africans here: I don’t think anyone is discounting the violence and anti-white laws in South Africa. I’m sure it’s horrifying to live as people have described. I think the point is that governments and militias all over the world are doing horrifying stuff to people, yet the mechanisms we have in this country to protect people from harm have all been shut down. Laws have been passed to take away legal status from and deport brown and black people. The situation in Haiti is horrifying. Same with Nicaragua and Venezuela, the Congo, Myanmar. Yet in the midst of all of these despicable actions, one group has been singled out for a protection that legally they can’t access, and that’s white people from South Africa. We have to ask ourselves why single out this one group in a world where people are harmed on a daily basis? (My answer is Elon Musk)
That's correct. This is not a moral assessment of the current state of South Africa, this is simply the facts of the context in which this EO emerged.
I assume you weren’t born and grew up in South Africa. I assume you don’t have children who won’t be able to get into medical school because they have excellent marks but have the wrong skin colour. I assume you don’t have teenagers that can’t work as a packer or waiter because they have the wrong skin colour. I assume you don’t own a business that is pressured to have people with certain skin colours employed irrespective of their merit simply to be able to get certain contracts. I assume you don’t have a 6-foot wall with barbed wire or electric fencing on top, with an outside beams, an inside alarm and a panic button linked to a private security company at you primary residence in an average neighbourhood. I assume you don’t do drills with your preschoolers about what to do in a possible burglary. I assume you don’t have dogs as protection, but actually just as pets.
I assume you don’t have to struggle to get a legal fire arm license for self-defense when the criminals come in with illegal automatic rifles. I assume you’ve never had a knife to your stomach when you went to buy your son a pair of binoculars and a random person on the street decided he wanted to take your wallet when you came back to the car. I assume you haven’t come into the office just to hear your colleague crying and swearing because the parents of her friend were murdered on their farm and nothing was stolen. I assume you haven’t become numb to hearing of these brutal murders over and over again. I assume you haven’t had to say good bye to eleven of your closest friends from university, because they have to choose between their children’s future and their aging parents and try to get a second citizenship before they are too old. I assume you’ve never heard parents crying about not seeing their grandchildren and yet encouraging their children to leave the country. I assume you’ve never had to look over your shoulder taking a walk in the neighbourhood wondering whether the person approaching you is going to be the next owner of your phone. I assume you’ve never thought it’s pointless to make a case at the police because the murderer won’t be caught anyways, even if there is video footage. I assume you’ve never had to watch how everything that worked is steadily broken down. I assume you’ve never had the poignant memory of how a park was beautiful, and now looks like a rubbish dump because the municipality takes no pride in their work. I assume you’ve never had Stage 6 loadshedding. I assume you’ve never run out of water in the capital city of your country because proper maintenance was not done and no fore thought was implemented for expansion.
I assume you have streetlights that work. I assume you have hope that your kids will find employment and not have to jump through endless hoops and rack up degrees just to get a normal job.
I assume you’ve never felt how it feels to be called a racist whenever you try to say that people who know how to grow food are being targetted and killed. I assume you don’t really think that when there are rallies where people sing about murdering farmers it is just for fun and entertainment.
I assume you’ve never thought that people can be white and yet see that Apartheid was wrong. I assume you don’t really think that racism can’t be fought by more racism and somehow be good.
I assume you’ve never had to be continually guilted for something you had no part in, and would’ve opposed if you were old enough to do so.
I assume you’ve never felt utterly helpless and forgotten by the world and when one person who can actually provide assistance tries to do so, he gets called a bully and you are shamed once again for even thinking that you can be treated like most other humans.
Not a single thing you said contradicts (or even addresses) anything I’ve written in this article. I’m very sorry you feel unsafe. That doesn’t change the facts I laid out or the context I which this executive order was made.
Should be “…racism can be fought by more racism…”. Not “can’t”.
Nonetheless, refugee status is based on a particular definition. Refugees (designated asylees inside the US) are persons forced to flee (and there are legal arguments about how far they must flee) because of persecution (again lots of legal arguments about how about this but it is a high bar) or a well founded fear of persecution (well-founded also having requirements) on one of five enumerated grounds which include race and political opinion. It must be by the government or a group they are unable govt is unable or unwilling to control. It sadly excludes many, many dangerous situations. It excludes general violence. It excludes war absent fitting in the definition. It excludes a volcanic eruption making a country uninhabitable. Trump did not attempt to explain how this designation fit. And he could use a tool for more general protection such as TPS.
White settler colonialism... It's still with us in the 21st century. The pearl clutching in the comments here is pathetic. Whites should learn what they as invading colonizers inflicted upon indigenous peoples by stealing their lands and resources would one day come back to bite the children of white invaders in their backsides. But racists seldom learn moral lessons, I'm told.
Ella... do not even waist your breath on Austin and Thomas... they should come down to South Arica, and to attempt to start a profitable business after first giving 51% or more of the ownership to non-white citizens. After this, you start paying company tax, capital gains tax, and personal income tax for which you get absolutely nothing - except ANC driven state corruption, nepotism and failing infrastructure (or what's left of it 30 years after the so called democracy that we now have). Apart from the disenfranchisement of private ownership in business and the aforementioned taxes, then you have to pay for your own schooling, medical aid, transportation, solar system (because there is no reliable electricity left), security services (because the police service is no existent), etc. Last, but not least, your physical private property can now also be taken and used by our most effective, ethical and astute freedom fighter government without compensation. The saddest part of it all is that Austin writes about South Africa from his moral little ivory tower as if he understands our country. He has no clue about the intricacies and nuances in our history - on both sides of the coin. Perhaps he'll have greater clarity of mind when three (3) of his neighbouring farming families have been murdered in cold blood as a result of black politicians (yes - sorry to label a fact) on a daily basis calling for the murder of white people (and in particular the Afrikaner) on national television, parliament and a Human Rights Council that has banned the previous flag of South Africa but refuses to ban and prosecute politicians individuals who sing songs publicly about "Killing the Boer" (please feel free to fact check - its freely available on YouTube, etc). So that my dear Austin and Thomas is the reality down at the southern tip of South Africa. I'll respect your "Fantastic Article" and "Great Work" once you have lived in South Africa WITHOUT the comfort of your US or Canadian visa. Both of your are welcome as a refugees in my house when you meet this criteria.
I explicitly bracket those questions as beyond the scope of this post. If you don't agree with the way that South Africa is governed at the moment, that's your perspective and you seem to raise legitimate concerns. The whole point of the asylum system is that anyone, yourself included, can use that system if you feel that you are facing persecution on protected grounds.
It's the truth, coming from a South African, 95% of all bursaries are given to the black majority. Over 80% of students in university is the black majority. They've been singing chants in the parliament about killing the white boer, they did as well, go and Google farm murders. And white business needs to pay 4% of their net profits to black business or they can't partake in the market. The BELA law forces schools to not teach Afrikaans. And now they can take Afrikaners land without compensation. Sorry but there is a racial revenge happening in South Africa. Just open your eyes.
I appreciate your sharing your perspective.
It is not unusual for government favor to figure into asylum claim adjudication. Countries the US wants to promote as allies are often not found to be persecuting people (or allowing persecution by a group they are unable or unwilling to control), but this explicit reference to relations with Israel goes a giant step further.
Agreed.
Fantastic article. Great work.
Thank you, Thomas. That means a lot to me.
We need people like you. Saying the truth and providing clear writing about it.