When racial xenophobia takes over

It is nothing surprising that President Donald Trump has invited protests in US and abroad including Britain,  with his racial insults against four Congresswomen from Democratic Party,  who had criticized Trump's flawed policies.  

Trump,  who is convinced that he was voted to the White House on the back of racial hatred unleashed throughout his election campaign,  has been adopting such policies both at home and abroad,  underlining one truth:  the current US President is nothing short of a racist, pure and simple.   The utter lie that Barack Obama was a Muslim was touted with the sole goal of winning the support of racists.   All the six countries,  whose citizens are banned from entry to the US,  are Muslim-majority countries.   And his supercilious pronouncement about it was that the refugees from those countries could go back to their native land.  The same is his attitude towards the black Americans born and brought in America and towards  the refugees from Latin America.    When the Congress raised objections to his expensive project of building a wall along the entire Mexican border,  Trump used all his force to overcome that.  And he loses no opportunity that comes his way to declare that America and its administration are meant for the white inhabitants in it,  and that the black communities,  Hispanics and Muslims are bound to live in its peripheries, if not to leave the country; almost similar to the racists in our country who keep ordering Muslims to go to Pakistan from time to time.

The latest to suffer the objectionable slur from Trump are four female Democratic Party members of US House of Representatives, i.e.  Spanish-born member from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,  Somalian-Arab origin member from Michigan Rashida Tlaib,  Minnesota's Palestine-origin Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley from Massachusets.   His words ran, " So interesting to see 'progressive' Democrat congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful nation on earth, how our government is to be run… Why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came? Then come back and show us how it is done."  When he tweeted these words,   the world could read it as nothing but an insult to Democratic Party,  women and the non-whites.   British prime minister Theresa May was quick to dismiss the comments in no unlcear terms as totally unacceptable,  and said that such language could never be allowed against women.  New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said she 'utterly' disagreed with him.  The Congress member from Texas Al Green declared that they would move to impeach Trump.  What invited that much of ire was the diatribe indulged in by Trump while telling the respected women members – all American citizens - to return their countries of origin.  And his own partymen Republicans themselves have started  responding that his remarks were really damaging.

But all said and done,  it would be reasonable to presume that in the current build-up of racism to its crescendo, majority of whites will probably stand by him.   After all,  despite his utterances of this and worse,   they all voted him to the White House.   And it may not be without an axe to grind that in the run-up to a second terms he is playing the same card.   In India, we have before us the experience of Narendra Modi who five years ago had  incited extreme Hindutva sentiments and won the polls,  having used the same strategy of spurring divisive feelings to return to office with renewed force.     Once destructive racism sans humanity and  justice,  in other words nationalism,  makes a country and its majority xenophobic,  then the common good of the country,  its peace or development will cease to enjoy people's priority.   Only with the passage of time -  after several bitter experiences and the fall of nations - will wisdom dawn on the people.   But by that time,  the country on which they took pride,  will have shattered.    A case in point is Yugoslavia after Josip Tito.    However,  despite having quite a few examples,  recent elections in Denmark, Sweden and Brazil were won by extreme right wing.   And again racism is also at the root of the Brexit debate that has been vexing Britain.    The only way to let in light to the dark tunnel is for lovers of humanity who yearn for the common good of the world , peace and a future free from war,  to come together and work towards that goal.