“They are eating dogs!” A Peep into American Imperialism and Racism.

A shameless convict who is notorious for bigotry, lies and fraud, Donald J Trump said,?"In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there."

Referring to Haitians in his debate with Kamala Harris was not?the?first time this bigoted felon spewed such hate and racism. But this statement is more than just about Donald Trump. Rather this statement needs to be put in its proper context as it reflects the inherent racism and homophobia in US society, as well as exposing the hypocritical and abusive role of the United States in that part of the world.

The issue of migrants from Latin and South American countries which continues to be a major political ping pong between the two despicable protagonists, Republican and Democratic parties need to be properly explained. A lot of American politicians, scholars, journalists and elites consistently give the false impression that the US is some innocent country which is being invaded by migrants running away from poverty and political oppression in their countries. ?

Well, the history of these countries would show that indeed the US is not only a culprit but the leading destabilizing factor across Latin and South America leading to the social, economic and political challenges these countries face over the decades and centuries. In that regard, citizens of these countries have a legitimate right to head to the United States. Not only have these countries been a huge source of wealth for America but also some of them, Haiti for example, have also saved America early in its Independence from European imperialists seeking to destroy American freedom.

When Haiti, led by the glorious?Toussaint L'Ouverture, led enslaved Africans against the combined forces of the French and British from 1791 until they gained independence in 1804, they provided cover for the fledgling young United States. By their struggle against European powers who were also interested in keeping America under their control, Haiti’s war of independence inadvertently forced France and England to eventually lose the strength and resources to continue their American expeditions. If there was no Haitian struggle, probably there would have been no USA today as we know it or something different altogether.

But as soon as the US was able to gain its full independence and strength, it turned on Haiti – not to support the small island to uplift itself but to keep it under full American sphere. Under the pretext of bringing peace and order in Haiti, the US first invaded and occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. During the period, America did not support this tiny island to build necessary democratic and governance institutions to become a viable state. Rather America’s only interest was to keep Haiti to itself away from French or any European control or influence.

Since then, America was only interested in firmly controlling Haitian people and resources regardless of any kind of leadership or government in place or the situation of human rights and democracy. Consequently, the collapse of Haiti began until today, unable to recover. The last US invasion was in 1994 under the so-called ‘Operation Uphold Democracy’ to ‘restore’ Pres. ?Jean-Bertrand Aristide. As Aristide began to appear uncontrollable in the eyes of America, as usual, the US came to remove him also through an orchestrated coup and transported him into exile to the Central African Republic in 2004.

Historians have adequately analyzed Haitian history such that it is abundantly clear that this first independent Black nation in modern times could never have found its feet thanks to the long running and consistent interference and exploitation by the United States, as well as by France and Britain. These nations individually and collectively have served only to defraud Haiti while undermining its ability to establish itself as a viable nation until today there by severely ridiculing its self-determination. ?

Therefore, if Haitians must travel to the US, they must do so. No American politician, scholar, journalist or citizen has a right to deny Haitians to enter freely and settle in the United States. This is simply because it is the US, more than anyone else that has ravaged Haiti causing widespread underdevelopment, instability and excruciating poverty in that country. Yet the US has never been held accountable for its interference with the sovereignty and the rights of the people of Haiti.

But apart from Haiti, the US is neither a hero nor a good Samaritan across Latin and South American countries. Rather the US is a notorious villain that did not only overthrow democratically elected governments and assassinate progressive leaders, but it also sponsors rebel and terrorist groups while trafficking drugs within?and beyond?the region.

If the US were not a Western, White-dominated nation, by its actions in the south, it would have been classified ‘a rogue and a state sponsor of terrorism’ to be severely sanctioned and isolated. The terror that the US has sponsored, supported and encouraged across the region over the centuries is uncountable. Through the CIA, military power and diplomacy the US has served to destabilize each and every Latin and South American country leading to indiscriminate killings, torture and widespread atrocities for which the US has still not been held accountable.

From Nicaragua with the Contra scandal in the 1970s to the invasion of Grenada in the 1980s to the overthrow of Allende and imposition of tinpot dictator Pinochet in Chile in 1973, and the unending illegal blockade of Cuba since 1958 and the ongoing onslaught against Venezuela just to mention a few, the US has championed itself as the leading terrorist state on earth. In all these cases, the US has used its military power and CIA to unleash violence on innocent peoples and countries for political ends. This is the definition of terrorism.

It is therefore shameful that American politicians would continue to lie about and caricature migrants as if America is innocent. These migrants have a right to enter the US because it is the US which has single-handedly ravaged these countries beyond repair. The Government of the United States is a key architect of the widespread bad governance and poverty across Latin and South American countries.

America must be held accountable for its exceptional and leading role in undermining democracy and threatening human rights in that region as in the rest of the world. There is ample evidence that the US remains the greatest threat to democracy and human rights around the world. For example, in the Global South – in Africa, Asia including the Middle East,?the US has,?with its powerful military might, played an unmatched role in destabilizing nations, generating wars within and between nations, killing their leaders, while supporting terror groups, autocratic regimes, and trafficking drugs.

I hope American historians, journalists and intellectuals will educate imbeciles like the felon Donald Trump to not talk loudly because the US is not an innocent virgin. If American politicians, journalists and scholars have shame, they would rather whisper and avoid being seen openly because the US is literally a rapist predatory state. But where American society could put forward a buffoon like Trump as a candidate, it shows that common sense, much less truth and values do not matter anymore in the US society and state.

If American society was civilized, honest and non-racial, it would not be enough to condemn the racist remarks of Trump. But his own political party, the Republicans, would have demanded him to step down and be replaced. We recall in 2018 how Trump called Africa “Shithole countries”. Just like before, today too Trump faced no accountability but handsomely rewarded a candidature highlighting that the US society is largely racist and uncivilized.

To conclude, it is necessary to remind Trump, but more particularly Western politicians, scholars, journalists and policymakers in general of the words of their fellow American academic Samuel P Huntington in his seminal work, ‘The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order’ (1993), that,

“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

Therefore, Haiti and indeed the rest of the Global South may be down today, but it is purely and squarely due to the organized violence continually unleashed on them by the West with the USA in the lead especially over the past 200 years. Palestine is a clear example currently!

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