On the afternoon of May 12, the first group of White South Africans — known as Afrikaners — arrived at Dulles Airport and were welcomed by several U.S. officials.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told reporters that the 59 individuals aboard the chartered plane, who underwent expedited reviews that took less than three months —not years, as in the case of others — had faced “egregious discrimination.”
Meanwhile, refugee admission considerations have been shut down from other countries, including Afghanistan and Sudan.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, however, stated that the departures were due to opposition to policies aimed at addressing racial inequality that has persisted since the end of apartheid, or White minority rule, more than 30 years ago.
“We think the American government has got the wrong end of the stick, but we’ll continue talking to them,” he stated.
Apartheid in South Africa, enforced by the White Afrikaaner minority from 1948 to the early 1990s, was a brutal system of racial segregation and oppression that dehumanized the Black majority.
Under apartheid, Black South Africans were forcibly removed from their homes, denied fundamental human rights, and subjected to extreme poverty, poor education, and systemic violence.
Entire communities were displaced to remote, underdeveloped areas known as “homelands.” At the same time, some Black, Colored, and Indian South Africans were forced to live in urban communities known as “townships,” while White citizens enjoyed wealth, security, and privilege.
Furthermore, peaceful resistance faced harsh crackdowns, including police brutality, imprisonment without trial, and massacres such as the one in Sharpeville in 1960. The apartheid regime institutionalized racism, creating a legacy of trauma, inequality, and division that still resonates in South African society today.
President Donald Trump’s stance on welcoming Afrikaners, while blocking people from other countries, is rooted in racism and influenced by a White South African: Elon Musk, director of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Imagine if Trump had been president during the White minority rule in South Africa. Would he have broadly welcomed Black South Africans as refugees? Or would he have even publicly or privately questioned the unfairness and racism of apartheid?
Stepping back into real life, did Trump or anyone in Musk’s family ever call for the release of former prisoner-turned-president Nelson Mandela?
Americans must confront Trump’s racism in all its forms—overt, systemic, and rhetorical—to uphold the values of equality and justice. History has proven that racism can have a domino effect, with one decision leading to rampant discriminatory practices and systems.
Racism in the Oval Office needs to be confronted aggressively. Today it’s offering privileges to Afrikaners, tomorrow it could be denying the rights of others right here in the United States– a move the president has shown he’s not above, particularly when it comes to reproductive and LGBTQIA rights.
We must remember America is a true melting pot, a country founded by immigrants and built on the backs of enslaved Africans, and we should truly remember.
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