First, I want to apologize as life has been crazy and I have not posted in MANY months.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
I wanted to start with that quote because this is what is inscribed on our Statue of Liberty. This part of the poem is a value that is reflected within our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Please pause and think about this inscription. Think about the meaning, think about how this country was founded. A group of the first settlers of this country were from others who were escaping religious persecution, others wanting to make a better life for themselves. This grandiose vision is something that has been instilled in our lives as to what America is about.
Now let’s flash forward to January 11, 2018, President Trump, during a bipartisan (1 Democrat and several Republicans is not bipartisan, but I will let that go) meeting presenting a bipartisan agreement (very rare these days) regarding DACA, made a statement in which he made reference to African countries as “shithole countries”
Before I analyze this comment for being completely wrong, I want to give some background information on the United States that most Americans should know and on the continent of Africa that until I started doing research, I like many Americans did not know. This information does not include the five countries north of the Sahara Desert (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt – they have different cultural and economic dynamics compared to the 49 countries below the Sahara Desert) .
In the United States, the middle class power did not emerge or begin to form until the late 30’s and its rapid growth continued into the 50’s. Our country won independence and formed the first Articles of Confederation (our Constitution’s predecessor) in 1781. So from 1781 – 1939 (158 years), Americans lived one of two ways…wealthy or poor. It took a long time for our country to develop into the first world country it is today. Also I want to point out, My grandparents were born between the late 20’s into the 30’s. They saw the rise of the middle class and the prosperity entailed in it. Not a huge portion of time in the overall history of our country. Even before the country’s founding, settlers had been here for a couple hundred years before the foundation.
The average income in 1940 in the United States was $1,368 and by 1950, it grew to $3,210 which is an increase of 134%. In 2016, the average income was $59,000. In 76 years, the income of the middle class has risen 4213%. Almost 70% of time in our country’s history, wages were below $1500.
The 49 countries in Africa have a fraction of time in their countries’ histories with most emerging during the 1960’s with a few exceptions. These countries before then were mostly colonized by Europe and the United States. Colonization has key features involved in it.
- Domination of an alien minority
- Asserting racial and cultural superiority, over a materially inferior native majority
- Contact between a machine-oriented civilization with Christian origins, a powerful economy, and a rapid rhythm of life and a non-Christian civilization that lacks machines and is marked by a backward economy and slow rhythm of life
- Imposition of the first civilization upon the second
So during the times of colonization, these countries were not benefiting like the alien country. The wealth of the alien country came from the backs of the inferior people. Our own country revolted colonization by England for some of these very harsh facts, yet we took part in the same process. While colonization is not full of many benefits for the inferior land, it does bring some benefit such as being introduced in to a more modern world we live in. These countries have emerged post Industrial Revolution in which efficient tools to perform work are more readily available than a large amount of time during the United States history included the creation of the tools so their rate of time to become a first world country should be considerably shorter than had they done it alone as a country.
For 20-30 years of my generation’s grandparents lives, these countries were colonized. They were underdeveloped countries with great levels of poverty. They saw corruption, civil wars, and many other humanitarian crisis that occurred in these countries’ short time in the world. The crisis experienced by my grandparents’ generations have been relatively limited compared to those who lived before them in our country. So based on this rationale, it makes logical sense that the most recent generations would consider Africa a place that is not safe, ideal, etc which will then arc into using the phrase “shithole” to describe it.
Before I continue, I want to point out, just because I made a logical explanation of why people would feel this statement is appropriate to describe Africa, I am not justifying their thoughts and the following proves why. One of the biggest flaw in the logical explanation is that those who feel it is a “shithole” is that they compare Africa to the United States and that is a comparison of apples and oranges. Both are in different stages of their history.
Something unknown to many Americans is the emergence of a middle class in Africa. These countries are very young yet their middle class is emerging quicker than ours did, but our middle class standards today cannot be compared to their middle class emergence. We have to look back at when the powerful middle class in America emerged. If you recall, average income in the United States during the 1940’s was $1,368 and by 1950’s 3,210. Currently in Africa, the average income is an average $1,800. (Note: this is based on several countries ranging from $320 to $7,210 annual income.) Many things are not taken into the analysis like cost of living. Something this does not address is cost of living as well. Countries’ cost of living compared to The United States can range 34% to 858% more costly to live in the U.S.
This emergence is only continue to grow as the decades go on. The growth rate is determined by many things. Companies providing stores on the continent have made several misunderstandings about this market and their sales have not shown great growth.
- Companies set unrealistic targets due to misunderstanding the drivers of consumer spending power.
- Companies underestimate the extent to which local factors determine how, where, and why consumers make purchasing decisions.
- Companies are not considering how the consumer class (which we define as those living on US$ 3.90 and above per day, the point at which people can spend beyond mere survival) is changing across the region.
Once companies realize these makes, the African middle class will surge much like the American middle class did. Also note, income ownership also plays an important role on rate of growth as well.
So what does all the information mean? The “shithole” thoughts of some in this country are based on this misconception of what Africa really is. Our State Department has had to release guidance for ambassadors regarding these remarks being made. Is this a norm? Should it ever be a norm? When did FACTS stop mattering anymore?
But here is more shocking news
Of the 1.4 million sub-Saharan immigrants in the United States who are 25 and older, 41% have a bachelor’s degree, compared with 30% of all immigrants and 32% of the U.S.-born population. Of the 19,000 U.S. immigrants from Norway — a country Trump reportedly told lawmakers is a good source of immigrants — 38% have college educations. Ann. M. Simmons
Obviously these immigrants are not the drain on our society. Many of them came from the lottery plan as well. I am disgusted that a “deal” has to be made on the DACA program. This us and them rhetoric solves nothing in this world, so targeting immigrants is just tyranny. Especially when these immigrants are typically GREAT ADDITIONS to our society. We need to do everything we can to keep these people in our country. These people aren’t criminals, they aren’t the drain on society, and more importantly, they are us! These people came here for the same thing we have…the American Dream, and when it is proven they are here as productive members of our society, why do we want to remove them?
It is time as a country, we stop trying to push people out and try to include. I will conclude this entry with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. (as tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
“Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
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