by Serwan Zangana
The debate over someone making a racist comment is not necessarily a racist person has no ground and is completely indefensible. Comments represent the person who expresses them, and through such comments, people can define the mentality and the intent of the others.
President Trump on multiple occasions has crossed his boundaries and made racist comments toward the others, including the Congresswomen from Minnesota, Ilhan Omar. However, either supporting or opposing Ilhan Omar, commenting racist toward her or anyone else in society is absurd.
Furthermore, during the 2017 rally of white supremacist and the opposition groups to the rally in Charlottesville, which resulted in violence and drew national attention. Trump commented on the rally and as a president instead of condemning the violence without taking a side, he said there was, “Very fine people on both sides.” In fact, fine people would not embrace a racist ideology, such as White Supremacist, and carry hate toward Black or other non-White races.
Racist comments should not be tolerated as they can indeed lead to racist actions, which poison American society and destroy humanity. American leaders in general are not paving a path for the American people to feel the equality without judging based on the color of the skin or the ethnicity.
Unfortunately, racism is entrenched in American society and still devastating communities across the nation. Racist comments from the leaders are only widening the gaps between the American people and causing distrust in the system. Obviously, the struggle of a Black or non-White person is completely different from the struggle of a White person. And to fairly evaluate each one’s life, a White person will not understand the struggle of a Black and non-White person in America.
It is noteworthy that Trump compared to the other U.S presidents has less Black and non-White members in his cabinet. Having the majority White in his cabinet can only raise one significant question: Is Trump racist?
However, according to BROOKINGS, November 2025, in the first 300 days of Trump’s Presidency, 216 individuals were confirmed in his administration, 91% of which were white. That means only 9% were Black or non-White selected for Trump’s administration. This also raises another question, which is: Did Trump not find any qualified Black or non-White to be selected to his administration?
In fact, there are more than 9% intelligent and qualified Black and non-White to fill various positions in Trump’s administration, but he surrounded himself with Whites.
