Latest news with #Black-majority
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Factbox-Trump makes false claims of white genocide in South Africa during Ramaphosa meeting
By Tim Cocks and Nellie Peyton JOHANNESBURG -U.S. President Donald Trump made several false statements and misrepresented some facts about the alleged persecution of South Africa's white minority during a contentious Oval Office meeting on Wednesday with President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa tried to rebuff the assertions but was frequently interrupted by Trump, who repeated the claims. Trump had staff play a video consisting mostly of years-old clips of inflammatory speeches by some South African politicians that have been circulating on social media. Among the claims contradicted by the evidence: 1. There is a genocide of white farmers in South Africa. This conspiracy theory has been propagated by some fringe groups of white South Africans since the end of apartheid in 1994. It has been circulating in global far-right chat rooms for at least a decade, with the vocal support of Trump's ally, South African-born Elon Musk. Supporters of the theory point to murders of white farmers in remote rural parts of the country as proof of a politically orchestrated campaign of ethnic cleansing, rather than ordinary violent crime. They accuse the Black-majority led government of being complicit in the farm murders, either by encouraging them or at least turning a blind eye. The government strongly denies this. South Africa has one of the world's highest murder rates, with an average of 72 a day, in a country of 60 million people. Most victims are Black. South African police recorded 26,232 murders nationwide in 2024, of which 44 were linked to farming communities. Of those, eight of the victims were farmers. The high court in Western Cape province ruled that claims of white genocide were "clearly imagined and not real" in a case earlier this year, forbidding a donation to a white supremacist group on those grounds. 2. The government is expropriating land from white farmers without compensation, including through violent land seizures, in order to distribute it to Black South Africans. The government has a policy of attempting to redress inequalities in land ownership that are a legacy of apartheid and colonialism. But no land has been expropriated, and the government has instead tried to encourage white farmers to sell their land willingly. That hasn't worked. Some three-quarters of privately-owned farmland is still in the hands of whites, who make up less than 8% of the population, while 4% is owned by Black South Africans who make up 80%. In an effort to address this, Ramaphosa signed a law in January allowing the state to expropriate land "in the public interest," in rare cases without compensating the owner. The law requires authorities to first try to reach an agreement. It still hasn't been used. 3. The "Kill the Boer (farmer)" song sung by some Black South Africans is an explicit call to murder Afrikaners, the ethnic group of European descent who make up the majority of whites and who own most of the farmland. The song dates back to the resistance against apartheid, when Afrikaner nationalists controlled the country. In one of the video clips Trump showed, firebrand opposition leader Julius Malema of the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is singing the song. Three South African courts have ruled against attempts to have it designated as hate speech, on the basis that it is a historical liberation chant, not a literal incitement to violence. In a statement following the meeting between Trump and Ramaphosa, the EFF said it was "a song that expresses the desire to destroy the system of white minority control over the resources of South Africa" and that it is "a part of African Heritage." 4. Trump played a video clip that showed a long line of white crosses on the side of a highway, which Trump said were "burial sites" for white farmers. The video was made in September 2020 during a protest against farm murders after two people were killed on their farm a week earlier. The crosses did not mark actual graves. An organizer told South Africa's public broadcaster, SABC, at the time that the wooden crosses represented farmers who had been killed over the years. 5. The opening scene of the White House video shows Malema in South Africa's parliament announcing "people are going to occupy land. We require no permission from ... the president." It also shows another clip of him pledging to expropriate land. Some land has been illegally occupied over the years, mostly by millions of desperate squatters with nowhere else to go, although some land seizures are politically motivated. The land is usually unused and there is no evidence the EFF orchestrated any land invasions.
Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Trump makes false claims of white genocide in South Africa during Ramaphosa meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump shows a copy of an article that he said its about white South Africans who had been killed, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque JOHANNESBURG -U.S. President Donald Trump made several false statements and misrepresented some facts about the alleged persecution of South Africa's white minority during a contentious Oval Office meeting on Wednesday with President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa tried to rebuff the assertions but was frequently interrupted by Trump, who repeated the claims. Trump had staff play a video consisting mostly of years-old clips of inflammatory speeches by some South African politicians that have been circulating on social media. Among the claims contradicted by the evidence: 1. There is a genocide of white farmers in South Africa. This conspiracy theory has been propagated by some fringe groups of white South Africans since the end of apartheid in 1994. It has been circulating in global far-right chat rooms for at least a decade, with the vocal support of Trump's ally, South African-born Elon Musk. Supporters of the theory point to murders of white farmers in remote rural parts of the country as proof of a politically orchestrated campaign of ethnic cleansing, rather than ordinary violent crime. They accuse the Black-majority led government of being complicit in the farm murders, either by encouraging them or at least turning a blind eye. The government strongly denies this. South Africa has one of the world's highest murder rates, with an average of 72 a day, in a country of 60 million people. Most victims are Black. South African police recorded 26,232 murders nationwide in 2024, of which 44 were linked to farming communities. Of those, eight of the victims were farmers. The high court in Western Cape province ruled that claims of white genocide were "clearly imagined and not real" in a case earlier this year, forbidding a donation to a white supremacist group on those grounds. 2. The government is expropriating land from white farmers without compensation, including through violent land seizures, in order to distribute it to Black South Africans. The government has a policy of attempting to redress inequalities in land ownership that are a legacy of apartheid and colonialism. But no land has been expropriated, and the government has instead tried to encourage white farmers to sell their land willingly. That hasn't worked. Some three-quarters of privately-owned farmland is still in the hands of whites, who make up less than 8% of the population, while 4% is owned by Black South Africans who make up 80%. In an effort to address this, Ramaphosa signed a law in January allowing the state to expropriate land "in the public interest," in rare cases without compensating the owner. The law requires authorities to first try to reach an agreement. It still hasn't been used. 3. The "Kill the Boer (farmer)" song sung by some Black South Africans is an explicit call to murder Afrikaners, the ethnic group of European descent who make up the majority of whites and who own most of the farmland. The song dates back to the resistance against apartheid, when Afrikaner nationalists controlled the country. In one of the video clips Trump showed, firebrand opposition leader Julius Malema of the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is singing the song. Three South African courts have ruled against attempts to have it designated as hate speech, on the basis that it is a historical liberation chant, not a literal incitement to violence. In a statement following the meeting between Trump and Ramaphosa, the EFF said it was "a song that expresses the desire to destroy the system of white minority control over the resources of South Africa" and that it is "a part of African Heritage." 4. Trump played a video clip that showed a long line of white crosses on the side of a highway, which Trump said were "burial sites" for white farmers. The video was made in September 2020 during a protest against farm murders after two people were killed on their farm a week earlier. The crosses did not mark actual graves. An organizer told South Africa's public broadcaster, SABC, at the time that the wooden crosses represented farmers who had been killed over the years. 5. The opening scene of the White House video shows Malema in South Africa's parliament announcing "people are going to occupy land. We require no permission from ... the president." It also shows another clip of him pledging to expropriate land. Some land has been illegally occupied over the years, mostly by millions of desperate squatters with nowhere else to go, although some land seizures are politically motivated. The land is usually unused and there is no evidence the EFF orchestrated any land invasions. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Factbox-Trump makes false claims of white genocide in South Africa during Ramaphosa meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump shows a copy of an article that he said its about white South Africans who had been killed, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque JOHANNESBURG -U.S. President Donald Trump made several false statements and misrepresented some facts about the alleged persecution of South Africa's white minority during a contentious Oval Office meeting on Wednesday with President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa tried to rebuff the assertions but was frequently interrupted by Trump, who repeated the claims. Trump had staff play a video consisting mostly of years-old clips of inflammatory speeches by some South African politicians that have been circulating on social media. Among the claims contradicted by the evidence: 1. There is a genocide of white farmers in South Africa. This conspiracy theory has been propagated by some fringe groups of white South Africans since the end of apartheid in 1994. It has been circulating in global far-right chat rooms for at least a decade, with the vocal support of Trump's ally, South African-born Elon Musk. Supporters of the theory point to murders of white farmers in remote rural parts of the country as proof of a politically orchestrated campaign of ethnic cleansing, rather than ordinary violent crime. They accuse the Black-majority led government of being complicit in the farm murders, either by encouraging them or at least turning a blind eye. The government strongly denies this. South Africa has one of the world's highest murder rates, with an average of 72 a day, in a country of 60 million people. Most victims are Black. South African police recorded 26,232 murders nationwide in 2024, of which 44 were linked to farming communities. Of those, eight of the victims were farmers. The high court in Western Cape province ruled that claims of white genocide were "clearly imagined and not real" in a case earlier this year, forbidding a donation to a white supremacist group on those grounds. 2. The government is expropriating land from white farmers without compensation, including through violent land seizures, in order to distribute it to Black South Africans. The government has a policy of attempting to redress inequalities in land ownership that are a legacy of apartheid and colonialism. But no land has been expropriated, and the government has instead tried to encourage white farmers to sell their land willingly. That hasn't worked. Some three-quarters of privately-owned farmland is still in the hands of whites, who make up less than 8% of the population, while 4% is owned by Black South Africans who make up 80%. In an effort to address this, Ramaphosa signed a law in January allowing the state to expropriate land "in the public interest," in rare cases without compensating the owner. The law requires authorities to first try to reach an agreement. It still hasn't been used. 3. The "Kill the Boer (farmer)" song sung by some Black South Africans is an explicit call to murder Afrikaners, the ethnic group of European descent who make up the majority of whites and who own most of the farmland. The song dates back to the resistance against apartheid, when Afrikaner nationalists controlled the country. In one of the video clips Trump showed, firebrand opposition leader Julius Malema of the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is singing the song. Three South African courts have ruled against attempts to have it designated as hate speech, on the basis that it is a historical liberation chant, not a literal incitement to violence. In a statement following the meeting between Trump and Ramaphosa, the EFF said it was "a song that expresses the desire to destroy the system of white minority control over the resources of South Africa" and that it is "a part of African Heritage." 4. Trump played a video clip that showed a long line of white crosses on the side of a highway, which Trump said were "burial sites" for white farmers. The video was made in September 2020 during a protest against farm murders after two people were killed on their farm a week earlier. The crosses did not mark actual graves. An organizer told South Africa's public broadcaster, SABC, at the time that the wooden crosses represented farmers who had been killed over the years. 5. The opening scene of the White House video shows Malema in South Africa's parliament announcing "people are going to occupy land. We require no permission from ... the president." It also shows another clip of him pledging to expropriate land. Some land has been illegally occupied over the years, mostly by millions of desperate squatters with nowhere else to go, although some land seizures are politically motivated. The land is usually unused and there is no evidence the EFF orchestrated any land invasions. (Reporting by Tim Cocks, additional reporting by Siyanda Mthethwa, Nellie Peyton and Milan Pavicic, editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Harrison: Feds forcing MS Legislature closer to racial demographics of the state
The slow, steady increase in Black Mississippians being elected to public office is the direct result of actions of the federal government — the executive, legislative and most importantly the judiciary — and not because of actions of the state. State officials have fought almost every effort of federal officials to expand voting rights for people of color and to increase the number of Black Mississippians holding public office. In the 1800s, the white political leadership crafted a state constitution, rooted in white supremacy and designed to block Black Mississippians from having or obtaining political power. Those Jim Crow efforts, well documented over the years, ranged from poll taxes to literacy tests and more. In the 1960s, laws were passed in Mississippi allowing potential voters to be disqualified based on their 'character.' Those efforts have continued to the modern day with efforts of white leaders to gerrymander political districts to weaken the political influence of Black Mississippians. And sometimes, those efforts have included reluctance and even outright refusal of white power brokers to remove some of those Jim Crow provisions. The latest response from the federal courts to these continued decisions by the state's white leaders is a recent ruling that forces the creation of three more Black-majority legislative seats: two in the Senate and one in the House. As a result of that ruling, later this year candidates in 14 legislative districts (five in the House and nine in the Senate) will have to run in special elections. Creating the three new Black-majority districts required the redrawing of multiple districts — 14 in this case — around the areas where the new districts were created. It should not be a surprise that most if not all of those lawmakers are not happy that they are being forced to run for reelection in the middle of their four-year term. But this reality is the result of the Mississippi House and Senate leaders approving a redistricting plan that the federal courts found did not provide adequate representation for Black Mississippians. The requirement forcing legislators to run in special elections is not unprecedented. In 1991, the Legislature passed a redistricting plan that was supposedly based on population shifts found in the 1990 Census. But the U.S. Department of Justice claimed, and the federal courts agreed, that the redistricting plan did not create enough Black-majority districts based on the population of the state. After considerable legal maneuvering, the House and Senate created a legislative redistricting plan that the federal courts found did not dilute Black voter strength. The federal courts ordered that all 174 House and Senate members run in a special election in 1992 under those newly drawn, racially fairer districts only a year after they had won election to a new four-year term. Many legislators were not happy about that. To make matters worse in the mind of those lawmakers, they were having to run a year after passing over the veto of then-Gov. Kirk Fordice a 1-cent increase in the sales tax on retail items. Fordice promised to campaign in the special election against the lawmakers who approved the sales tax increase. There is little evidence that Fordice was successful in defeating lawmakers because of the tax increase. But the special election did result in a significant increase in Black representation in the Mississippi Legislature. As a result of that special election, the number of Black members of the 52-member Mississippi Senate increased from four to 10 and increased from 20 to 31 in the 122-member Mississippi House. Those numbers have slowly but steadily increased since then because of the nature of population shifts and, yes, because of additional federal court actions. The Black population of Mississippi is currently about 38%, and the Black voting-age population is a little less than that. Even with these three new Black-majority districts approved recently by the federal courts, there will be 43 Black-majority districts in the House, making up just 35% of the membership in the 122-member chamber. On the other side of the Capitol, there are 16 Black-majority districts, comprising about 31% of the 52-member Senate. Thanks to action of the federal government — and certainly not the state — the Mississippi Legislature continues to inch closer to a representation that looks like the demographics of Mississippi. But it's still not there. This column was produced by Mississippi Today, a nonprofit news organization that covers state government, public policy, politics and culture. Bobby Harrison is the editor of Mississippi Today Ideas.
15-05-2025
- Politics
Challengers argue Georgia's new maps still harm Black voters
ATLANTA -- Challengers on Thursday told a federal appeals court that Georgia lawmakers are still violating Black voters' rights after redrawing the state's congressional and legislative maps. If judges uphold the challenges, they could order different district lines to be used in Georgia for the rest of the decade, making it possible that more districts would elect candidates favored by Black voters — usually Democrats. The voting rights groups argued in three cases that lawmakers created additional majority-Black districts, but didn't do enough to address the harms suffered in the areas where they proved at trial that there was illegal vote dilution. For state Senate and House maps, the area in question is in Atlanta's southern suburbs. For the congressional map, it's in areas north and west of downtown Atlanta. But lawmakers drew in Black voters in other parts of the metro area to make new Black-majority districts. 'Going to a different part of Atlanta to create opportunities for Black voters is not sufficient,' said Ari Savitzky, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union representing those challenging state legislative maps. Lawyers for the state, defending the current maps, say that the state has complied with a court ruling ordering new maps and that the challengers can't demand new districts in exact locations. Stephen Petrany, Georgia's solicitor general, says the challengers are really trying to elect more Democrats, and that the court shouldn't let them use the lawsuits to do that. 'Are these the right number of districts? Yes. Are they in the right area? Yes," Petrany told judges. "That is the end of this case.' Judge Adalberto Jordan said any decision on redrawing maps would wait until after a ruling on a separate challenge to U.S. District Judge Steve Jones' original decision by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In that case, argued in January, Raffensperger contends that Jones' decision should be overturned and the state should revert to the maps that lawmakers drew in 2021 before Jones ruled they were illegal under the 1964 Voting Rights Act. Section 2 of that law protects minority voters. The challengers have a steep climb. Jones ruled in 2023 after a trial that lines were drawn to illegally dilute Black votes. But he accepted maps drawn by lawmakers in special session as fixing the illegalities. For the three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the map, the judges must rule that Jones abused his discretion. Jones rejected claims that the new maps didn't do enough to help Black voters. Jones said he couldn't interfere with legislative choices, even if Republicans moved to protect their power. But challengers say Jones was too deferential to lawmakers even when he had already found they had acted illegally. Jordan repeatedly pushed the challengers on how many of the affected voters had to be included in new districts. Lawyers for the challengers said there was no set standard, but that Georgia lawmakers hadn't done enough. Abha Khanna, representing challengers in two lawsuits said the new map 'laundered Black voters across districts deftly to create the illusion of new opportunities.' While the maps created additional Black-majority districts, they also locked in Republican advantages. In a state where GOP candidates in competitive races win at best 53% or 54% of the vote statewide, Republicans hold 64% of congressional seats, or 9 of 14. They hold 59% of state Senate seats, or 33 of 56. The state House is a little closer to parity, with Republicans holding 100 of 180 seats, or 56%.
