The Fallout Of President Trump’s Racially Charged Remarks On The African Continent And Haiti As “Shithole”

Why most black people felt insulted and outraged when Mr. Donald Trump called African countries and Haiti “shitholes.”

Let us be honest with ourselves! Countless of countries in Africa are” shitholes!” Otherwise, how else can you explain the dire conditions despite the vast natural resources and throngs of decently trained young populations? What has sub-Saharan Africa added to human inventions, technology and architecture?

I can understand why some Blacks were upset when the President of the United States, Donald Trump blurted out such palpably racist comments and demeaned a whole continent and other countries in the western hemisphere. For Blacks who have suffered centuries of racism, Jim Crow laws and mass in- castration, President Trump’s comments confirm his white supremacist and xenophobic proclivities.Notwithstanding President’s characteristic crudeness, his “shithole” comment may have inconvenience truth, crude and offensive as it sounds.

I have observed with sadness that most African leaders, if not all of them, have since independence from their colonial overlords, under-developed their countries and turned them into virtual “shitholes.”

As an African, born in Ghana,I’d like to illustrate this shithole syndrome that pervades the continent. In Ghana the first sub-Saharan African nation to attain independence from Great Britain in 1957, the single damning “shithole” characteristics is corruption. This canker has so deeply eaten into all facets of life that it’s now become accepted as normal. Not only do the little people take bribes, but officials in the higher echelons do it, too. The practice is also endemic in the private sector.

Ordinary Ghanaians trying to scrape a living complain there’s too much suffering in the country, even though there’s the appearance of liquidity in the country. There is the general perception that all wealth goes to only a few of the well-connected. The complaints apart, the ordinary folks are engaged in robust economic activity in the markets, streets and walkways. What they say they need is a functioning government that will make things less difficult for them.

Another way Ghana can be designated a” shithole” country in the impunity with which elected officials carry themselves. Their behavior indicates they have no love of country. Policy makers seem to care for themselves, family and their youthful paramours. It isn’t uncommon for the fortunes of a lowly individual gets elected and in no time, is seen acquiring houses and some cases luxury vehicles, purchases that far outstrip their salaries. Unfortunately, when these corrupt individuals are caught, they use their ill-gotten gains to manipulate the legal system and go scot-free, unpunished.

If our countrywere not a shithole country, those in power would work to establish top-notch medical facilities for themselves and for the country. Butit’s not uncommon to see the rich flown abroad for medical attention. Recently, the Vice President and his wife seen on the streets of London apparently on medical leave to that city.As a former professor of economics in a Canadian University, you would think that it would occur to him to set a target to have well-constructed sidewalks where people can freely walk without the danger of stumbling and falling, the way he was gleefully enjoying the sidewalks of London.

And returning to the state of medical care in the country: what does it take to provide the resources and training so people don’t have to travel thousands of miles to spend the states money on a few individuals? Nobody will call us shithole countries if we will buckle down to take care of the very basics; good hospitals and schools, great roads and open spaces for recreation, community centers, sanitation and sewer systems that don’t overflow and clog after rains. Only leaders of shithole countries will be dumb to stash away money from the national treasury in foreign banks and spend vacation in exotic places like Dubai, rather than making their own countries beautiful to enjoy.

In” shithole” countries, a little rainfall can bring unspeakable tragedy. In the recent past, several people perished when rain flooded at a gas station and floating gasoline caught fire killing dozens of people. In February 2018 another rainfall flooded some gutters and the fast-moving waters swept away a child and his dad who tried to rescue him. In well-run non-shithole locations, there would be accountability for the shoddy drainage system. So, where is the accountability in Ghana?

The way to go is, even if you are stealing, use the loot to do good by building hospitals, schools, roads,potable drinking water, etc., for the benefit of the community. Why then did some people become upset, insulted and outraged, when President Donald Trump called African nations “shitholes” given that the actions of the leaders in those countries are despicable. I see these leaders enjoying themselves by sending their children to schools overseas, vacationing with their wives and concubines abroad, and hopping on the plane any chance they get formedical treatment abroad while the hard-working poor Ghanaians contend with poor service and shortages of essential drugs.

Let us take President Trump’s negative pronouncement and turn it around to make something good out of Africa to benefit mother Africa and the diaspora.

Thomas A Djan, CA USA