Kean student organizations respond to President Trump’s comments toward Haitian and African nations

By Petruce Jean-Charles | Published March 1, 2018

President Donald Trump startled the country with one of his comments. On Jan. 11, during a meeting with a bipartisan group of senators in the White House, Trump referred to Haiti and other African nations as “shithole countries.” This meeting was established to come up with solutions for immigration and issues pertaining to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

DACA is a program that was launched by former President Barack Obama in 2012. Th is program was established to allow immigrant children to stay in America to gain an education and other opportunities. The benefits for this program include renewals, employment authorization, a driver’s license and even in-state tuition.

With the climate surrounding DACA and other immigrants Trump’s statement off ended and alarmed many people of Haitian and African descent around the United States and especially here at Kean University.

With Kean University’s mission to diversify and expand its ability to understand different cultures many organizations such as the Haitian Student Association (HSU), Pan-African Student Union (PASU) and Africana Studies play a role on campus.

The Office of Africana Studies seeks to provide an intellectual forum that allows students to learn, analyze, examine and interpret the traditions and culture of African people.

Dr. James Conyers, Director of Africana Studies expressed his views on the matter noting that Haitians, Africans and Americans in general should not be surprised by the statements Trump has made but rise above it and come together as a nation.

“I was not surprised because I understand racism in the form of White supremacy,” Conyers explained. “For those of us who are very clear about our history in this country would automatically assume that racism in the form of White supremacy is an operation all the time. The problem is that there is a naivety of African people to assume and be historically and politically naive about Trump and racism. We assume that because we don’t hear or see racism that it doesn’t exist, we have to be aware instead of naive.”

The Pan-African Student Union (PASU) is a cultural organization that seeks to unify all people of African descent and make them aware of their strength as African people. The mission is to empower and teach people of their pre-colonial roots in hopes to guide their future.

The Haitian Student Association (HSA) seeks to empower the Haitian students by discussing the culture of Haiti. Students are given the opportunity to understand and examine the issues happening in Haiti.

Alex Louis, an advisor for the Haitian Student Association felt it is important to acknowledge the resilience and work ethic Haitians are capable of achieving.

“My initial thought when I saw the news was that Trump seems like a person who is not educated about Haiti, even with their strong work ethics,” said Louis. “He is also not familiar with the people of Haiti or other third world countries, so I thought he was very ignorant. What he needs to know is that Haitian people are resilient and hardworking, so whether Trump said those comments they will continue to achieve new things. This won’t stop them from working hard.”

The Haitian, African and American communities here in the United States and across the world have spoken out because of outrage at his racist comments and offensive language. From protests, social media and influential people coming together as one President Trump has spoken out.

On Jan. 12, Trump denied the accusation of the language used by him at the bipartisan meeting which lead to various tweets defending himself and explaining what he really discussed.

“The language used by me at the meeting was tough, but this was not the language used,” said Trump. Despite his claims of not using harsh words toward Haiti and African countries, this issue will still exist in the minds of those he has off ended.

“It doesn’t matter whether Trump said it, the Vice President, Senate or the Congress because racism is fabricated within this country as a DNA in itself,” Conyers said.

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