5 reactions to Trump's 'go back' tweets to Democratic congresswomen
Christian leaders are responding to recent tweets from President Donald Trump in which he suggested that racial minority freshmen congresswomen return to their countries of origin to help repair their corrupt governments.
In a series of tweets Sunday and Monday, the president blasted left-wing congresswomen who hail from nations where the governments are "a complete and total catastrophe" to "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."
"Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!"
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Though he did not mention them by name, it is understood that his remarks were directed toward four freshmen congresswomen who have been referred to by Speaker Pelosi and others as "the Squad," all of whom are women of color: Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. Yet only Omar was born overseas; the rest were born in the U.S.
Late Monday, Trump tweeted again his distaste for "the four 'progressives.'"
Ocasio-Cortez has in recent days suggested that Pelosi was being dismissive of the recently elected women of color, who represent the party's most left-wing flank.
Christian thought leaders and authors have weighed in with their response, some of whom have noted that the “go back where you came from” is widely considered one of the oldest and ugliest of racist tropes.
Double standard for whites
Writing on Twitter, author Austin Channing Brown noted how many blacks have been here longer than many whites but are somehow never told they should return to their countries of origin.
"Racists love that 'go back to Africa' line even though many of us have been here for 5+ generations. Then turn around and want sympathy because their grandparents had it *so hard* when they came," she quipped Sunday.
