Thread by @Noahpinion

I'm not sure which annoys me more here:
A) the statement that a country that "isn't Caucasian" is "a different civilization", or
B) the fact that he totally forgets about World War 2

https://twitter.com/meghara/status/1123519296959913985

The whole thing is basically Skinner saying that only white people can care about human rights...

I mean, part of this is just reflexive racism. But I think a bigger part is the Trump administration trying to argue against the need to improve America's own human rights to provide a contrast with China, as we did in the Cold War with the USSR (and China).

The real game here, I think, is to pre-empt the kinds of nationalistic arguments that helped push the U.S. government to back Civil Rights, refugee admissions, race-blind immigration policy, etc. during the Cold War.

Here's an essay about how the need to counter Soviet propaganda (and bolster our own propaganda) led the United States to repeal racist laws:

history.house.gov/Exhibitions-an…

By saying "Ehh, Chinese people don't care about human rights anyway", Trump's people - consciously or unconsciously - are probably trying to avoid a repeat of that history.

Of course, the end result of this kind of argument is a tacit pact where a bunch of countries agree to oppress their own marginalized groups without criticizing each other for it.

Which is probably the kind of world Trump & co. would like.

(end)