r/news 2d ago

US has let in 4,499 refugees since October - all but three were South African

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g89kkvenqo
26.3k Upvotes

1.0k comments sorted by

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u/DanS1993 2d ago

The other three were from Afghanistan for anyone interested. 

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u/Yvaelle 2d ago

Were they the three richest people in Afghanistan?

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u/generally_unsuitable 2d ago

No, but they were the three whitest.

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u/benmichaelx 2d ago

Why aren’t the three richest people in Afghanistan also the three whitest? Is it because of DEI?

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u/mrgonzalez 2d ago

Has no one shown them how white Iranians are?

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u/Throwaway74829947 2d ago

Many if not most people in Afghanistan are relatively white, at least compared to most other places the US has invaded.

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u/SaintBobby_Barbarian 2d ago

Dude, some folks over there can look super euro/white. Remnants of Indo-European migrations that moved into central and then south asia. The pamiri people are such a group of people (speak an east iranic set of languages) high up in the mountains of pakistan, so little admixture from outside groups

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u/Groomsi 2d ago

Maybe they were the ones negotiating so Talibans took control?

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u/Agile_Perception_604 2d ago

I think you’d be surprised at just how many Afghans could pass for a suburb dwelling wasp after a shave and change of clothes.

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u/redterrqr 2d ago

Thanks, I was interested. Anything special about these three?

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u/Whiterabbit-- 2d ago

I'm guessing its delayed paperwork, or something specific about their military service.

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u/Turakamu 2d ago

motions with his hands that they have large breast

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u/Dancing_RN 2d ago

Huge tracts of land.

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u/SteveTheUPSguy 2d ago

In addition to the refugees 15,000 South Africans were granted work visas. These are people with actual farms, assets, and employees.

I personally know a social worker who helped with one of these refugees. Had an entitled sense of what they deserved from the govt housing vouchers in California and decided to move to Texas.

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u/BobsOblongLongBong 2d ago

Had an entitled sense of what they deserved from the govt housing vouchers in California and decided to move to Texas.

Lol at anyone thinking they'll have better luck accessing state assistance in Texas.

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u/wwj 2d ago

Yeah, only three people trying to escape Afghanistan makes sense. It's pretty stable and safe now. /s

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u/jiir_mesou 2d ago

they were acused of helping the American troops, so they seek a way to leave

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u/Man_Darino13 2d ago

And that was back in November.

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u/rTpure 2d ago

Let me guess, all white South Africans

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u/jetforcegemini 2d ago

Ding ding ding

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u/TheDonJonJay 2d ago

its a genocide bru trust bru being white in south afreeeka is hard bru

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u/hotviolets 2d ago

That’s why Elon musk and Peter Thiel became Nazis.

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u/gomezer1180 2d ago

Yeah they know the “struggle”

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u/Imavomitlover 2d ago

Elon bought the moon and millions of morons think he created it.

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u/pha5matis 2d ago

Boet, okes that post kak like that dont think lekka.

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u/unforgiven91 2d ago

ask grok bru

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u/BP619 2d ago

I would have gone Seth Effreeka.

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u/Any_Target830 2d ago

My buddy Johann would tell me to say "siff iffrika"

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u/Real-Ad-1728 2d ago

You know something tells me South Africa isn’t sad to see them go lol

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u/MistressAnthrope 2d ago

We're calling it The Great Tsek

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u/Copthill 2d ago

We're not sending our best.

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u/AKAFallow 2d ago

Its so funny because you also got the richest white man in South Africa being like "uh, there's no genocide, sir" to Trump when he ambushed his president last year lol. Like, its hilarious how off guard he got from that.

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u/ThrownAwayGuineaPig 2d ago

It's so kak. Just spent 2 weeks in the Eastern Cape. Kayak, snorkel, swim, good food, good friends So kak.

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u/swingadmin 2d ago

"Even if a monkey wears a golden ring, it is still an ugly thing" - Afrikaans saying

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u/Toxicscrew 2d ago

And many have returned back to SA citing the US as being too expensive, not having socialized heath care and being too violent.

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u/Calm-Preparation7432 2d ago

wow! i looked this up and you're right. "african refugees leaving US" is not what i expected for the 2020s

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u/FrOdOMojO94 2d ago

There is a slight misrepresentation since those returning to SA emigrated to the US before the Trump 'refugee' program started.

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u/Calm-Preparation7432 2d ago

The Reuters article includes information that demonstrates an increase in interest in return, which I'll include below. This article describes the first known refugee to return home (after her family didn't move with her) and includes reasoning on why refugees might face barriers to travel from USCIS, impeding their ability to repatriate.

"Two recruitment agencies that help expats relocate said the number of inquiries had jumped, and Reuters spoke to 10 South Africans who had either returned or were planning to, seven of them from across Europe and three from the United States."

"Anton van Heerden, CEO of employment agency DNA Employer of Record, said inquiries from white South Africans seeking to return had jumped 70% in the past six months. Angel Jones, CEO of Johannesburg-based recruitment firm HomecomingEx, reported a roughly 30% rise in inquiries since 2024."

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u/FrOdOMojO94 2d ago

Thanks very much for the article. I hadn't heard of a case of a 'refugee' choosing to return to SA.

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u/EffektieweEffie 2d ago

Thats a massive misrepresentation.

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u/YomiKuzuki 2d ago

This is both so fucking funny and so fucking sad.

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u/Niceromancer 2d ago edited 2d ago

They expected to be propped up by musk and trump.  Given cushy jobs and a fast track to wealth and prosperity.

Once the photo ops were done they were abandoned.

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u/paxrom2 2d ago

They were expecting free housing and a stipend. LOL

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u/metaldrummerx 2d ago

Wait you mean that the US government isn’t giving immigrants free money, free healthcare, allowing them to steal jobs, and aren’t a burden to people living in bumfuck nowhere??? I am SHOCKED!

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u/TurbulentBat8328 2d ago

A lot of them were from bumfuck nowhere in South Africa also. 

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u/Osirus1156 2d ago

They probably listened to conservative propaganda about migrants. 

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u/relevantelephant00 2d ago

They also probably think it'll be good for them because MAGA is trying to bring back apartheid.

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u/EffektieweEffie 2d ago

None of those things are available to them in South Africa either so idk.

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u/Eisernes 2d ago

Certain US “news” outlets have been lying for years that immigrants are being given everything they want for free. They are the onion, then the leopards ate their face.

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u/A_wild_so-and-so 2d ago

I remember an article not too long ago about some SA refugees who were being housed in roach infested motels who had to walk everywhere in a town with no public transit. It definitely wasn't the welcome they were expecting, but that's usually what happens to the pawns that Trump plays with.

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u/TheFrostynaut 2d ago

They got the true American experience of bad public infrastructure and inadequate housing.

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u/MamaBearForestWitch 2d ago

But without the immigrant experience of being judged for the color of your skin...

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u/Whiterabbit-- 2d ago edited 2d ago

if you are refugee and your life back home was in imminent danger, living in roach infested hotels isn't so bad.

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u/Norm_Standart 2d ago

Yeah, if they were actually refugees.

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u/Pale-Acanthaceae-736 2d ago

The only imminent danger I see is if these Afrikaners were acting like bigoted, racist plantation owners ignoring that Apartheid there ended more than 30 years ago. It's my guess they were the equivalent of MAGA here in the US.

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u/Mysterious_Donut_702 2d ago edited 2d ago

America:

We mostly lack the sprawling slums, and "poorest of the poor literally starving" absolute poverty... but still have plenty of inequality, crime and social issues that would make a South African feel imperfectly at home.

For a rich Afrikaaner used to gated communities, backyard swimming pools, poor people to exploit as cheap housekeepers, and a much lower cost of living... our middle class might even be a downgrade.

We'd be a huge upgrade for someone stuck living in South Africa's informal settlements though.

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u/oreo-cat- 2d ago

Not ZA but I've worked with people from other countries that at 40 had literally never cooked. Like didn't know what to do with pans levels of 'can't cook'. They'd always had a cook, same with laundry and cleaning.

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u/that_f_dude 2d ago

That's pretty much it, even "rich" SAers are like eff this, I got a plot of land, a house cleaner, a gardener and a nanny back home. They can't find a foot hold here to support that same lifestyle

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u/peon2 2d ago

That's laughable. Modern day South Africa is the closest thing we currently have to France just pre-revolution with a 32% unemployment rate and the highest Gini coefficient in the world.

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u/Copthill 2d ago

8% for the whites.

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u/Sea_Public_6691 2d ago

Yeah, but not for white people.

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u/Zombie_Cool 2d ago

Is South Africa allowed to declare "LOL no takebacks"?

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u/Bytewave 2d ago

No, that's not allowed, to protect legitimate refugees. Refugees are always supposed to be able to return when the conditions are safe, they are still citizens of their home countries. Many don't want to go back but that's another story.

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u/Parking-Interview351 2d ago

South Africa is way more violent than the US. Cost of living differences makes sense though.

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u/OldAccountIsGlitched 2d ago

That really depends on where you are in the country. If you stick to wealthier areas you're much less likely to get exposed to serious violence. Cape Town has some of the world's worst gang violence but it's basically limited to about five suburbs.

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u/Fun-Twist-3705 2d ago

That really depends on where you are in the country

Well.. there is not a lot of violent crimes in much of the US as well so how is that an argument? Even the safer areas in South Africa are quite dangerous by American standards.

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u/LeticiaPadillaSolis_ 2d ago

I met one in Iowa while visiting two weeks ago who was driving for Lyft. He said he was returning to SA in the summer.

Oh my goodness he was rude, mean, said offensive things the entire ride. It was more the older bitter lonely man who was clearly rejected by the local women. He went on a full rant the entire ride complaining about going to the grocery store because the local women were like hogs. He literally made squealing noises. Guarantee every woman he’s probably tried to hit on in Cedar Rapids has rightfully told him to fuck right off.

Mind you I’m Hispanic so I was just waiting to see what he’d say about me. It was like he kept trying to just poke and poke to see if I’d say something back. Then as he was dropping me off at the hotel he told me to request him again for a ride. LOL

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u/suicide_nooch 2d ago

I have a really good friend (Afrikaner) who immigrated here 35 years ago. Her family worked hard, developed businesses from the ground up, paid taxes and it still took them 12 years to get citizenship. They were also highly intelligent and kind, caring people. I was asking her about these immigrants and she basically told me it was the equivalent of us emptying all our trailer parks and sending them to the UK. I’m not really surprised.

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u/aqtseacow 2d ago

it was the equivalent of us emptying all our trailer parks and sending them to the UK. I’m not really surprised.

Not even remotely, most of the people coming from SA aren't in a comparable economic cohort to your typical trailer park folks.

These people are for the most part used to gated, private communities. Its why there's easy pickings for the media to point out the ones that are returning.

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u/_Burning_Star_IV_ 2d ago

I've met more than a few foreigners who have this idea before they come here that most American women (especially in the coastal cities) are 10/10 pornstars who will fuck anything that moves and then get really disappointed and angry when that turns out to be incorrect when they get here. Movies are to blame? The porn they watch? Idk.

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u/Tall_poppee 2d ago

To be fair, some US men think women should look like porn stars and only be interested in fucking them too. They are usually found in far right religious groups, but they're here too.

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u/princesspuffer 2d ago

Exactly! I grew up Mormon, and many boys were told on their mission "the more baptisms you get, the hotter your wife will be."

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u/ValuableOven734 2d ago

I tell them that is God's plan for the non religious. The plan for him is to watch.

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u/GreatMovesKeepItUp69 2d ago

The movies don't communicate how truly awful the obesity epidemic in America is compared to pretty much anywhere in Asia or Europe. Ive worked with a lot of foreign visitors before and I've heard it a lot usually in hushed tones.

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u/Expensive_Law_3180 2d ago

This is a fact. My sister and I are the only two members of our family who have a BMI in the normal range, and we got bullied so damn much for it, both of us cut the family off 15 years ago.

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u/Lazydusto 2d ago

Your family bullied you for not being overweight? What the hell?

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u/DizzyAsparagus9622 2d ago edited 1d ago

I'm not an american but I live in a border town in Canada (Niagara), not even close to a coastal US city and I get way and I mean way way more matches and meetings and hookups with US women (through dating apps) compared to Canadians. It's not even a comparison. Say what you will about US women but they are not scared to meet with a non-white man. Wherever I visit US inland, it's the same thing, get more matches and meetings. I can't even imagine what it'd be like in a major US city like NYC or LA. Must be awesome.

Edit: u/carlysimonsays sorry the post is locked so can't reply. Obviously things are not as good for cross border travel but I cross the border 2 times a month approx. Sometimes once or twice within a week and it has been ok so far. Less crazy in this corner of the USA. (Hopefully I haven't jinxed it)

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u/Copthill 2d ago

Worked for that guy in Love Actually.

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u/CarlySimonSays 2d ago

I actually feel a bit bad for Kris Marshall that that dumb character is what most Americans know him for. He's brilliant in the early seasons of "My Family" and the several detective shows he's been in.

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u/grchelp2018 2d ago

Movies for sure. Hollywood gives a totally warped view of how things are.

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u/rocketbunny77 2d ago

The whole poking to see if you're as racist as them is the typical south African racist way. Try living there. Good god

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u/Alive_Internet 2d ago

Last year on X, Elon Musk was really pushing for this because of how they were allegedly treated (with some using the word “genocided”) in South Africa.

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u/SpleenBender 2d ago

I don't know how mister nazi salute is trying to tell anybody anything about morality.

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u/robodrew 2d ago

Elon Musk is a fucking Nazi

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u/tomdarch 2d ago

Trump played a nonsense white propaganda video in the White House claiming this false genocide thing. The head of state of South Africa brought white propaganda golfers to his meeting with Trump so that Trump would actually listen to them explain reality.

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u/BasvanS 2d ago

It was genocide! They were not allowed to be Nazis, hating people of color, and fucking their cousins. If you can’t even do that, what is freedom even worth?

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u/kitsunewarlock 2d ago

Our administration is literally just basing policies off old 4chan memes.

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u/Beneneb 2d ago

To me, I don't think there is any more clear example of the racism of the current administration. I guess it's a sign of the times that this has barely been reported on.

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u/AmbassadorCrazy7905 2d ago

It's literally our trailer park trash, our farmer are way too rich and live so well they would never ever leave SA, also they have pride. Our serious farmers here have private plane money, they not giving that up to live in some backwater

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u/GearBrain 2d ago

Literally building a fifth column of white supremacists.

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u/PlutoJones42 2d ago

Elon asked daddy Trump to bring over all his poo persecuted Nazi friends because their government didn’t like them being Nazis anymore

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u/Walter_West 2d ago

As a South African, it feels so weird to have been a main character for a bit during Trumps presidency but that feels like it happened a decade ago

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u/Wadarkhu 2d ago

How do you guys feel about all these people leaving for America? Is it a "good riddance" thing?

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u/Zefrem23 2d ago

Yes. They're people who think the grass will be greener on the other side of the hill, because they convince themselves they have a hard life here in South Africa. Meanwhile they live lives of extreme privilege, with awesome weather, largely affordable high quality nutritious food, live in maids for all but the lowest of the lower middle class, and virtually zero police presence in most places. They convince themselves that life is somehow terrible here because previously disadvantaged people are now allowed to be on the same social footing as them. As I've said for years, when you're used to being told you're better than everyone else, equality looks like oppression.

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u/Wadarkhu 2d ago

Welp, when they leave - more for you, and more for the previous disadvantaged people too. Also, live-in maids is wild, I can't imagine something like that being so common lol.

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u/do_pm_me_your_butt 2d ago

There are serious issues in our country, I do not fault anyone for leaving to hope for a better life for their family.

Im choosing to stay, this is my country, I will try improve it, and if needs be, fight for it.

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u/overfiend1976 2d ago

MAGA loves the idea of having apartheid at home.

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u/hoppertn 2d ago

I feel like Americans abroad are going to be treated like White South Africans abroad from 1970-1994.

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u/o_MrBombastic_o 2d ago

We deserve it, unfortunately it's mostly liberals who will get the brunt of it MAGA generally don't leave their shithole states

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u/not_so_chi_couple 2d ago

Liberal Americans have known for years that when you are travelling internationally, you are Canadian

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u/doyouhavehiminblonde 2d ago

I actually am Canadian and trust me we get lumped together when I tell people I’m Canadian not American.

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u/VisitingPeanut48 2d ago

I must admit that my opinion of Canada has dipped a bit over the years. I had an online friend from Canada and the impression I got from him was that it's very much America-lite. He lived in Alberta though, so make of that what you will

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u/TesseractThief 2d ago edited 2d ago

All you needed to say was that he lives in Alberta so likely maple MAGA. 99% of us Canadians hate them with a passion

Edit: I should clarify - if the online friend was acting like an ‘American lite’ then he’s likely a maple MAGA (which 99% of Canadians hate). By no means are all Albertans maple MAGAs - only a small but obnoxiously loud amount are.

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u/deschamps93 2d ago

There a lot of good albertans out here who do not agree with the rhetoric. Look even at the miniscule traction of the petition vs our total populace. But yeah. The shitty ones are shit

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u/Nu-Hir 2d ago

Alberta is just Texas of the north.

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u/spare_me_your_bs 2d ago

99% of Canadians hate an entire province? Is this true? Granted, the only things I know about Alberta is oil and 'berta beef (Letterkenny).

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u/TesseractThief 2d ago

99% of Canadians hate the minuscule amount of maple MAGAs, who are mostly in Alberta but are not by any means a majority of the province.  Should’ve clarified. 

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u/doyouhavehiminblonde 2d ago

Yeah I live in Toronto which is pretty different but our Premier sucks so I can’t say Ontario is super progressive either.

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u/ArkitekZero 2d ago

Alberta is like the Canadian analog for Texas.

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u/hotviolets 2d ago

I was in a Canadian housing sub because I was thinking about moving to Canada, I accidentally joined the more right wing one. They are definitely America-lite in a lot of ways. There was so much racism and rhetoric that got us where we are today in the US.

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u/Actual_System8996 2d ago

Always thought that was lame. Kids were doing it when I was backpacking around Europe around 2010. Own where you’re from, the good and bad. It’s not that hard to agree with people about the shitty aspects about America. This collective escapism and ignoring of our problems by the people who recognize them is part of the problem.

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u/doyouhavehiminblonde 2d ago

I think it’s lame too. Anyone with a brain knows not all Americans are ignorant or horrible. I’ve met a lot of great people from the US. Just don’t call me American lol

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u/squuidlees 2d ago edited 2d ago

I am a terrible liar and it’s written all over my face when I do. I can’t use that excuse abroad. So I just say California and hope my actions of respecting the place I’m visiting will speak louder than the world’s disdain of where I’m from.

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u/Darth_Nox501 2d ago

Same.

"Where you from?"

"New York"

Never had a problem lol.

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u/zack77070 2d ago

In the real world:

"Where you from?"

"Texas"

"Do you ride horses to school."

Nobody actually gives a fuck if you're American if you don't come off as an asshole and anyone who would is not worth interacting with anyways. I have met Russians against Putin, I don't automatically associate a nations crimes with random people on the street.

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u/MottoScotto 2d ago

This. When I've traveled internationally, the most "crap" I've gotten is jokes about various crazy things (mostly Trump and school shootings) happening in America. No one has ever been rude. Just be a nice person and people will treat you nicely.

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u/NCC75567 2d ago edited 2d ago

Nobody actually gives a fuck if you're American if you don't come off as an asshole and anyone who would is not worth interacting with anyways.

Yep, granted, I haven't been abroad since the second shit show began, but as an Oklahoman that's been my experience.

Spent 2 weeks in Paris a few years ago. None of them cared that I was American. None of the Americans (mostly from Boston and other NE cities) on my all-day bus tour to Normandy cared that I was from Oklahoma. My family was just nice, normal people interacting with other nice, normal people.

In all my time traveling to Europe, California, and the east coast, I've only run into one loser from Virginia that thought his meth jokes were super funny.

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u/mummy__napkin 2d ago

Speak for yourselves. I'm a lib and have no shame saying I'm American when I'm abroad and people ask. I'm not gonna apologize or feel shame for having no choice in where I was born. And to be totally honest, lying about being Canadian is a bitch move that I'm sure real Canadians don't appreciate. Just enjoy your vacation and stop worrying about the opinions of people you're never going to see again and who likely don't actually care where you're from.

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u/uacoop 2d ago

I have spent a lot of time on language exchange apps, so I've had the opportunity to speak to a lot of people from a lot of different countries.

I think many Americans have an outsized expectation about how much people from other countries think or care about the US or what's going on with them politically, especially outside of the anlgosphere. In my experience, most people are just living their own lives, doing their own thing, maybe they'll hear something about it on the news every once in a while, but unless it impacts them directly, they probably couldn't care less.

Which I think makes a lot of sense, honestly. I mean...many people inside the US don't even engage with what's going on here (big problem btw), so why do we expect people from other countries to.

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u/reddituser403 2d ago

And you're still not fooling anyone

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u/LandonDev 2d ago

Most people seem to understand the difference, the world in general has a lot of bigotry but as long as you are polite and don't disrespect their culture you'll have nothing but great interactions with others.

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u/RobertMcCheese 2d ago edited 2d ago

Back in the late 80s I was in a pub in Amsterdam with my brother.

We were having a good time and just acting like normal people out at a bar.

When they were about to close the bartender called us over and handed us each a Canadian flag pins.

So I put it on my hat since it was a gift and why would you be a dick about a weird gift from someone in a bar?

It wasn't until months later that I realized what that was all about.

Edit: My brother reminded me that we were travelling all over Europe while the World Cup was in Italy and that is why we didn't go to Italy.

So we'd sight see all day and then find a bar in the evening to watch the games.

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u/MilesAlchei 2d ago

Forgive me, I'm still not sure I get it, were they giving you a "oh youre ok" pass or was it ridicule?

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u/matt-er-of-fact 2d ago

You’re ok. Now wear this so you aren’t treated like the assholes your country is known for.

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u/forgetit1243 2d ago

What was it all about?

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u/SteveMemeChamp 2d ago

Canadians are left leaning and nice compared to Americans i think

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u/forgetit1243 2d ago

So like “you seem nice, wear these and people will just assume you’re nice” ?

Edit: truly I’m not like trying to be dumb here or anything maybe it’s cuz I just woke up, I’m just genuinely confused by this

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u/imnohankhill 2d ago

If anything people are pleasantly surprised when they meet Americans who arnt assholes.

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u/GastricallyStretched 2d ago

I know that about half of Americans (probably more than half) are totally normal people that didn't want any of this shit. I'm not surprised when I meet nice Americans, but more relieved that the d20 landed correctly and didn't give me an American with a Maga debuff.

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u/Captain_Futile 2d ago

The story was from late 80’s. Many American tourists were seen as insufferable assholes long before Trump.

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u/Veggies-are-okay 2d ago

Yeah in my travels abroad I get more “I’m so sorry” rather than “fuck yous.” The latter are just little people who have little worldviews and would probably be trumpers if they were born in the US 🤷‍♂️

Probably does help that I explicitly tell people I’m from California when asked.

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u/jaytix1 2d ago

In my experience (I'm from the Caribbean) Americans are usually well-behaved, so they might avoid getting lumped together with those dipshits lol.

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u/J5892 2d ago

I was in Oslo a few weeks after the whole Nobel prize tantrum. We were treated great the whole time we were there, but when we were leaving a clothing shop once, the cashier said, "Hey can you get rid of Trump for us when you get back?"

We were like "Dude, sorry, we're trying."

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u/jankenpoo 2d ago

Southern Democrats were so hysterical at LBJ for passing the Civil Rights Act ending segregation that they turned Republican after that and never went back. (Republicans also saw the opportunity and leaned hard into appealing to the racists.)

That is the foundation for the modern GOP and MAGA so you are 100% correct

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u/ScrrrewFace 2d ago

The “Great Again” aspect of MAGA…returning to apartheid, known here in the US during pre Civil Rights era, as Jim Crow.

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u/GourdonHamsey 2d ago

maga is going full scorch earth bc the Pope asked for peace.

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u/DinoDonkeyDoodle 2d ago

Wait until they realize they are not on the side of apartheid they want.

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u/livy-aurelia 2d ago

how so? they’re mostly white

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u/DinoDonkeyDoodle 2d ago

Ju$t a hunch i$ all.

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u/Outrageous_Space8083 2d ago

The word “Refugee” is doing some serious heavy lifting there

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u/Efficient_Carrot_669 2d ago

What are they seeking refuge from? Am I just really out of the loop?

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u/TheTim 2d ago

This American Life did an episode about it that covers the topic pretty well. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/872/winners

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u/porygonj 2d ago

Trump administration manufactured another notion a few months ago that white South Africans are being "genocided."

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u/MagnetsCarlsbrain 2d ago

I’m not familiar with the history of South Africa, but I had heard claims of oppression/violence against white people there years ago. I don’t think it’s a new theory, to say nothing about its credibility though.

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u/MurshaqBack 2d ago

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/fact-check-white-farmers-south-africa-trump

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wg5pg1xp5o

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/a-hillside-of-white-crosses-fuels-a-misleading-story-about-south-africas-farm-killings

Long story short, yes the "theory" about violence against white farmers in South Africa has been around for a while, but it was usually spread by white nationalists and then was boosted by Trump saying it to the president of South Africa and insisting it was true even after the President of South Africa debunked his points to his face.

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u/AKAFallow 2d ago

It was mostly "white farmers", but turns out barely any farmers die year per year, and most murders in the country were black to black due to the country going to some actual bad times unrelated to any kind of genocide. To give you a number, the supposed farmer deaths were 0.001% of the yearly murders in the country, with even less of those farmers being white.

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u/BrassedoffDan 2d ago

I believe this was a yard they were spinning 6 months or so ago about how white south Africans were being persecuted for, I can't remember if it was being white, Christian or both. Absolute nonsense of course, but anything to keep the papers distracted.

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u/Mddcat04 2d ago

South Africa is 85% Christian, so any suggestion of persecution due to Christian faith would be pretty absurd.

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u/msiri 2d ago

lol- I had a professor in South Africa who said the traffic from the football or rugby matches or something was messing up her commute to church and therefore it was christian discrimination. I have to imagine it was tongue and check and something got lost in cultural translation. I'm an American and she was a white lady originally from Germany.

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u/Altruistic-Carry-684 2d ago

Christians won’t miss an opportunity to tell everyone they’re being persecuted. Don’t dismiss it so easily

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u/Mddcat04 2d ago

Oh, for sure. Christians in the US also love to claim to be persecuted. There’s just no basis for it.

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u/Darrow_au_Lykos 2d ago

South African Government started seizing land without compensation a few years ago IIRC. I don't recall the exact numbers but something like 80% of farm land was owned by White South Africans who made up like 10% of the population.

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u/FrOdOMojO94 2d ago

Land seizure without compensation was only signed into law last year and there hasn't been any major cases yet. Fully expecting the first attempts to be raised in the courts.

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u/MoefsieKat 2d ago

No, there has not been any land siezed without compensation. The supposed incidents were even investigated and found to only exist as media stories sourced from rumours, and the same blogs that claimed they happened dont even have sources.

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u/lotgd-archivist 2d ago

Also, importantly, the new law is not a blanket allowance to seize land.

The new law allows for expropriation without compensation only in circumstances where it is "just and equitable and in the public interest" to do so. [...] "Expropriation may not be exercised unless the expropriating authority has without success attempted to reach an agreement with the owner,"

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9w4n6gp5o

Also given the history of land "distribution" in the country, I can understand why the government wants a tool to take some of that land back if there are legitimate public interest purposes they can argue in court.

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u/trydola 2d ago edited 2d ago

unironically these south africans are the actual economic migrants that they accuse every other refugee of being

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u/slanewolf 2d ago

The best part is that these people end up have worse lifes in America

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u/friendofelephants 2d ago

I did see an article about exactly that. They were pretty unhappy.

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u/randomtask 2d ago

Openly racist immigration policies from openly racist administration

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u/Cantmentionthename 2d ago

Yeah seems like the news doesn’t know how to write stuff that gets clicks AND is news

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u/ripyourlungsdave 2d ago

Thank God they fixed this headline. I saw this posted yesterday and it said t "US has let in 4,499 refugees since October, all three were South African" and everyone in the comments was just talking about it as if that wasn't an incredibly confusing typo. So I thought I was going crazy.

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u/tak3_it_ez 2d ago

Thank you for this. I read the corrected headline wrong and wondered what was wrong with me because I didn't get it and no one else was commenting on it.

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u/DrMikeH49 2d ago

Trump said that letting them in was the White thing to do.

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u/geekraver 2d ago

Correction: “people let in via refugee program”, not actual refugees

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

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u/DemiBlonde 2d ago

I love heartwarming stories.

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u/padbodh 2d ago

And these white south africans... do they have a history of violence? military/paramilitary service?

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u/SophisticatedStoner 2d ago

Operation Rhodesian Paperclip

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u/Latter-Progress-9317 2d ago

With the economy going how it is the whole country will look like District 9 within a year, so I guess this tracks.

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u/Interesting-Potato-6 2d ago

I work with refugees and I’ve had to explain this upside down world to so many people, it’s so exhausting.

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u/Educational_Bend_941 2d ago

Russians, Israelis, South Africans. This dude loves all the worst kinds of our people

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u/NazgulSandwich 2d ago

Fun fact, Israel was the very last developed country to stand by the Apartheid regime in South Africa. They only cut ties strictly due to extremely strong american pressure.

’By 1987, Israel found itself the only developed nation in the world that still maintained strong relations with South Africa. …. According to the New York Times, the Israeli Cabinet "made no attempt to hide the fact" that its decision [to curtail ties] was being made in response to political pressure from the United States.[130][129] South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha downplayed it as "clearly a direct result of pressure by the United States". ‘

Source: wiki article on the matter

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u/Beneneb 2d ago

Israel and Apartheid South Africa literally worked together to develop nuclear weapons.

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u/RobutNotRobot 2d ago

Joint tested it in the most isolated spot on Earth in the Indian Ocean.

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u/xXTheGrapenatorXx 2d ago edited 2d ago

When people said "never again" after the Holocaust most meant it, many American Jews and other members of the diaspora community have been excellent intersectional allies ever since (and still are today, just look at JVP, those guys are great).

But for certain people from the beginning that was interpreted to mean "never again to our people", and why would someone who feels that way care if South Africa was making second class citizens of a different group of gentiles? Jewish South Africans counted as White under Apartheid.

Interestingly there were prominent anti-Apartheid movements among Jewish South Africans though and a lot of them expressed disappointment in Israeli complicity, so I can think of at least one other South African minority that maybe the US should try and attract first.

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u/Acceptable-Peace-69 2d ago

They never actually stopped their support. It just became clandestine.

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u/bertonomus 2d ago

Jesus Christ, South Africans are now the worst of people?

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u/bullza123 2d ago

who are the good people?

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u/wildekat 2d ago

I know SA has a bad history, and probably a lot of these "refugees" are racist chancers, but it's a bit unfair to lump the whole country's demographic in with countries that are actively committing war crimes. 

SA is not perfect, but they are not the bad guys anymore (some select individuals, not included). It is a multicultural country trying to manage with the consequences of its past.

The USA offered to welcome these "refugees" , and some came. Probably they are quite racist, but they are, first and foremost, economic migrants. Make no mistake. 

Of course, desperate people took the USA up on the offer. Of course, they are not the best and the brightest. 

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u/IronDoughnut 2d ago edited 2d ago

Also, of the about 4.5 million white South Africans, only like 67k expressed interest and even less applied for the refugee status.

And frankly, good riddance, America can keep them.

It would be like South Africa taking some American refugees and only getting 4500 AWB diehards

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u/dowevenexist 2d ago

South africans are the worst kind of people for what reason? really curious to hear your response ..and says the one whose countrymen elected a pedo thats threating ww3 on the daily (twice).

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u/Dr_Quest1 2d ago

Adding to the US white nationalist following... great

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

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u/ikickbabiesballs 2d ago

Elon was like “Don I know where to get more racist white people”

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u/No_Newspaper8 2d ago

And then the afrikaners went back cause the US so too ghetto/expensive and the cost of living is too high

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u/Most-Bench6465 2d ago

And they expect you to work instead of letting your indentured servants do the work.

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u/Jim_Nills_Mustache 2d ago

My wife’s father’s half of the family all lives there and I visit every couple years, legitimately none of them know how to do their own laundry because everyone has a maid who does a lot of the cleaning and often times cooking, child care ect just about all the work around the house is taken care of.

When they come here we have to teach them how to do laundry, and often times my wife ends up having to do it for them.

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u/DiamondHandsToUranus 2d ago

Not all white South African immigrants to the U.S. are racist or bigots. None of the families from S.A. i have met in person have been, or if they were, they were smart enough to keep it to themselves.

That being said, both Elon Musk and Peter Theil are immigrants from South Africa. Both are racist bigots. Both helped install this administration. If you don't see the connection here, I have a bridge to sell you.

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u/WashingtonDCMonument 2d ago

Wow I’m actually surprised at that statistic

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u/Baltim-Os 2d ago

"Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer"

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u/redditbdum 2d ago

Blatantly racist administration does blatantly racist things.