A Passage To Black Communities

As Said mentions in his book “Orientalism,” it is impossible to untangle from colonial influences, whether you are the colonizer or the colonized. He connected it briefly to American racism; when the history of a nation is saturated with racial prejudice, its people’s biases are inherently racist.

In the United States’ case, the Orientalist mindset extends beyond the colonized and colonizers. Those of European descent (whites) certainly perpetuate the exotic, spiritual, paganistic stereotype of Native Americans, but Black and Latino cultures are also painted with broad, generally harmful, and largely inaccurate strokes.

This American Orientalist mindset was clearly evident in President Trump’s campaign when he asserted that Black communities are in a worse shape than ever before, and that if you “take a look at the inner cities, you get no education, you get no jobs, you get shot walking down the street. They're worse -- I mean, honestly, places like Afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities.” Said’s main problem with Orientalism - that it diminishes the diverse groups in the “Orient” by generalizing myriad cultures and presenting them as inferior to those in the West - has never been more applicable.

Most glaringly, President Trump failed to mention that the institution of slavery was integral in robbing Black Americans of their safety and liberty by sparking nationwide prejudice against Black Americans. This omission shifted the blame from the oppressors to the oppressed. It is not simply inaccurate to argue that no Black Americans have an education, a job, or basic security when taking a walk in their neighborhood; it illustrates all Black people as having inferior intelligence and financial stability to White people. It implies that all Black people are constantly engaged in senseless violence - not only the ones who get shot walking down the street, but those who shoot, who President Trump may not name, but certainly assumes are also Black. At the root of President Trump’s comment lies an argument that presents Black communities as inferior, uncivilized, and barbaric. Sound familiar?