American history has featured numerous instances of the concurrent promotion of white supremacy and black inferiority. Winthrop D. Jordan’s White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812 and George M. Fredrickson’s The Black Image in the White Mind: The Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny, 1817-1914 are classic depictions of this historical phenomenon.
One of the core tenets of historic anti-black sentiment discussed in both White Over Black and The BlackImage in the White Mind is the belief that persons of African descent possess fewer mental capabilities than their white counterparts. Donald J. Trump has unabashedly reintroduced this unsavory tradition back into American discourse. Trump regularly refers to African Americans, who criticize his policies, as “low I.Q. individuals” (as well as a few other top political opponents).
The ludicrous foundation of Trump’s mindset was graphically revealed to a worldwide audience during his Presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Although Trump referred to Harris, a woman of African descent, as a “low I.Q. individual” throughout the campaign, most observers, including some conservatives, deemed Harris as the “winner” of this pivotal political event.
Ironically, considering Trump’s apparent obsession with discussing the alleged mental shortcomings of persons of African descent, his second term has featured a plethora of flawed decisions, especially those related to the economy, from trade wars to pressuring the Federal Reserve.
