In February, Donald Trump signed an executive order condemning the South African government and its policy regarding land claim settlement. He declared that a genocide was taking place against the white minority Afrikaners by the government of South Africa and offered refugee status to any Afrikaner who was fleeing persecution.
Afrikaners are the descendants of Dutch colonizers that have populated the upper class of South Africa for centuries.
The narrative that the Trump administration is arguing for is that the white minority of South Africa, is now facing genocide at the hands of the majority black population.
Despite the claims of Trump, a genocide is not taking place within South Africa. Many right-wing groups within the country have claimed a genocide because of a select group of vicious attacks against white landowners in the past. But South Africa is also home to some of the worst violence in the world, and black South Africans are subject to the same violence, at equal or higher rates.
The program that Trump is targeting hopes to address the problems facing a majority of the population.
A critical part of apartheid was keeping the black majority under the thumb of poverty. The apartheid government made sure that black citizens could only hold a select portion of land, and made sure the land was not usable.
The legacy of these policies is very clear. The last time the South African government checked in 2017, the 7.3% Afrikaner minority held 72% of the land within the country. The black population (81%), on the other hand, held 4.1% of the land within the country.
With two-thirds of the black population living in poverty, land reforms are an attempt to rectify the innumerable hurts caused by apartheid.
Most white South Africans feel a genocide is not taking place in South Africa, but ta small minorty of far right groups has used the “grievence” to spread fear and gain power among Afrikaners.
Not withstanding the conditions in South Africa, Donald Trump is clearly not invested in human rights and providing safe haven for victims of persecution. He moved to cancel all asylum appointments within hours of his inauguration. He railed against Haitian refugees and their protected status during his election run.
The first group of Afrikaners arrived on May 12 in Washington, DC, to a very warm welcome from the US government. The treatment is very different from that of other refugees, such as Afghans and other non-white Africans.
White Genocide is the idea that white people are in fact being purged or ethnically cleansed via dillution of the population by non-white peoples. White people are not being replaced, but the natural misegination of peoples is taking place.
The point of Trump’s actions is to lend credence to claims of a “white genocide” within the Western world. The direct reports of violence against white South Africans confirms Trump’s claims of violence against whites.
Trump is using the US’s authority to claim that a “white genocide” is in fact taking place because the US is taking action.
Donald Trump is no stranger to this theory, and it played a large part in his victory in 2024.
The main issue was the economy, and he blamed illegal immigration for the economic woes people were facing. Claiming that home prices were being driven up, and a horde of invaders were pouring in.
When white Americans feel like a “white genocide” is taking place, they are far more receptive to Trumps facist domestic policies, and therefore chose him on the merits of economic concerns.
