Melania Trump, who has been in Africa doing good work in countries like Ghana and Malawi and trying to mitigate the worst effects of her husband’s racism and ignorance about the continent, was criticized for wearing a pith helmet in Kenya.
Pith helmets are seen as an echo and reminder of British colonialism. Really? The subject of my Ph.D. dissertation was the struggle to end colonialism, mainly in Africa. I own a pith helmet. I’m fairly sensitive to ethnic slurs (i.e., the Redskins, the Lehighton Indians, the Confederate flag), but I never associated pith helmets with colonialism. Perhaps now I will, but I had not before yesterday.
I think Melania was doing her best. If you want to criticize Trump, I can email you my collection of five pages of things the Trump administration has done that are harmful to America. Melania wearing a pith helmet is not on that list.
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