Member-only story
Politics | White South Africans
A Refreshing Display Of White Privilege: Will White South Africans Squander This 2nd Headstart?
Would Elon Musk even allow it?
Hardworking MAGAs swear that this is the first instance of white privilege they’ve witnessed in their lives, which begs the question: Are they somehow convinced that a group of white South Africans did nothing to deserve an exemption to Trump’s paused refugee resettlement programs? What an odd thing to say.
One thing is for certain, though: these white South Africans are not playing around. Like Elon Musk’s family, they are miners, miners of white privilege. They’re here precisely because they squandered centuries' worth of a colonial headstart back in South Africa, and they’re not scared to start over: In New Zealand, Australia, and most recently, Trump’s America.
They are not escaping disenfranchisement, they escaped equality. They ran away from a country they could not be in charge of. They are committed. They’ve refused to adjust and integrate into a system that does not resemble apartheid South Africa, which begs the question: What informs them that they’ll be comfortable here?
Elon Musk? Shiloh Hendrix? In that case, I don’t doubt that our friends will fit right in.