One
American congressman has recently made statements that seem to mirror
pre-war eugenicist ideologies that hold white Anglo-saxans at the top
of the societal food chain. Following the controversy of his tweet on
March 12th,
which we briefly mentioned in class, U.S. Representative Steve King
was unapologetic. The Republican from Iowa suggested his support of
Geert Wilders—whom many refer to as the "Dutch Donald Trump" based on his ideologies as well as his famously blond bouffant—a politician from the Netherlands who is known to hold strong
anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiments. “Wilders
understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't
restore our civilization with somebody else's babies.” King
previously expressed his belief that white Christians have been the
biggest contributors to western culture; “our civilization”
refers to that of such white Christians, while “somebody else's
babies” seemingly refers to Muslim children. A day later, on March
13th,
he responded to a statement by Mexican-American news anchor Jorge
Ramos regarding America as a multiracial country. King stated,
“...he's
adding up Hispanics and blacks into what he predicts will be in
greater number than whites in America. I will predict that Hispanics
and the blacks will be fighting each other before that happens.”
This is highly related to positive eugenics—keeping “our”
numbers up while the “lesser races” fall victim to
social-Darwinism as a justification for King's apparent racism.
Fellow
Iowans were especially eager to disassociate themselves from his
statements after King was praised online by Ku Klux Klan affiliates such as the former grand wizard David Duke.
King received a lot of criticism for his tweet from colleagues and
the media, but he stood by his comments. In a radio interview, King
claimed that “this isn't about
race.” Instead, his comments were about “our stock, our country,
our culture, our civilization.” What I find most disturbing is his
language—by advocating for “our stock”, King seems to mirror
the ideas of positive eugenicists in early-twentieth century America.
To reiterate a statement that was made in class, eugenics is not all
based on race. Steve King claims that it is not about skin color, but
that children who are not assimilated into American culture (i.e.
born of immigrants) are less American. “I'm a champion for Western
civilization...They contribute differently to our culture and
civilization.”
Why
should we care what Steve King believes? We are talking about a
public figure who is advocating against diversity and inclusivity in
America, and he is not alone in his sentiments. King's statements
have already given fuel to white supremacists like the KKK and as we
know, eugenicist ideas have deep roots in American culture despite
the fact that they were pushed underground following World War II.
King's statement that other “sub-groups” have not contributed as
much to Western civilization as white Christians inherently devalues
racial minorities and their position in American society. If you have not already done so, I implore you all to read up on Iowa Representative Steve King, as well as President Trump's "Dutch counterpart" Geert Wilders.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/12/iowa-rep-steve-king-muslim-children/99099712/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/14/politics/kfile-steve-king-prediction/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/politics/steve-king-babies-tweet-cnntv/index.html
I definitely agree that Steve King’s statements are both troubling and consistently devaluing minorities position in society compared to white Christians. While this kind of thinking is not new, it has become more pronounced within the last few years, peaking during the last Presidential election. The many derogatory comments about people based on race or ethnicity invoked the idea that white people were superior to people of other races.
ReplyDeleteMany of these derogatory comments placed blame on Latino immigrants for crime, which invokes the image that they are of the lowest class in society. Our current President has called Latino immigrants rapists, drug dealers, and criminals more than once. The idea of blaming crime on a group that is not necessarily liked has been used many times throughout our nation’s history. As discussed in Better For All the World, the easiest groups to blame for crime were the poor and the non-white immigrants. By placing the blame of crime on Latino immigrants, not only is he making them inferior to the white people, but it also invokes the assumption that they are poor, working class people, the group usually blamed for crime.
Steve King’s comments go farther than what our current President has said, especially when it comes to eugenics. His beliefs on “our stock” and the inability to restore “our civilization with someone else’s babies” directly relate back to eugenics and the belief of keeping the Nordic/white race pure. While many people have distanced themselves from King, especially after being praised by the KKK for his comments and beliefs, all this really shows is that some of the core beliefs of eugenics are still around. They might not have been at the forefront of politics or scientific policies, but they were underlying beliefs in American culture. At this point, it is important to realize that eugenic beliefs might still have an underlying hold on people’s beliefs.
While Steve King’s comments are particularly troubling, the scarier part of this situation is that there are supporters that believe this same thing, but perhaps don’t want to speak out loud about it. By giving these beliefs a voice, King is legitimizing these views and putting them out in the open. Many people may publicly disagree and condemn him, but that does not mean there are other citizens that don’t agree with those same views. The chance that eugenics and may make a comeback is possible, and it’s comments like these that help legitimize eugenic beliefs once again.