Every time I walk down the street in Mtwara, I get looked at. I've seen cars slow down coming up to me and then speed up once they've gone past (no, not because of a speed bump). Some adults look at me with suspicion, whilst others look at me with interest. People may say hi to me especially because I'm white, whilst others ignore me. Whole classes of kids can stare out the window, excitedly waving at the mizungus (white people), whilst some can be scared of the unfamiliar.
Having lived most of my life in the UK, where being white is the norm, I find this experience strange. I don't mind being in the minority, but other people care that I am a minority. I now understand when people talk about feeling like a representative of their skin colour - if I do something to anger just one local, the story of the terrible mizungus may spread around town like wildfire. On the other hand, I hope that my positive presence here will lead to a positive view of white people. How weird is that sentence? Surely my positive presence here should just lead to a positive view of me?
Whilst my experience of being white in a black country has been largely positive here, kids being excited to see me worries me. They're not excited to see me, they're excited to see my skin. It's this same concept, applied in reverse, that means you can have black friends and still be racist. You may be excited to see your friend, but you're angry at their skin. Being seen for my skin (and I know I'd be seen for my atheism in a 99% religious country) takes away my identity. How I act feels like it's being seen as how a white person acts, instead of how I, as an individual, act.
Prioritising skin or religion over individuality is dangerous. When a President creates a ban that is clearly targeted at Muslims, it angers me. Don't try to argue it's not - he's talked about offering priority entry to Christians. The reason it angers me is that I'm currently living with a Muslim family and they have taken such incredible care of me. They've let a stranger into their home who can't speak their language and made sure that I was comfortable. Saying that they're a threat to my safety is stupid. And don't tell me "they're just one of the good ones" as if they're in the minority - they're part of the vast, vast majority.
Whilst I'm hardly an expert on the topic, let me give you a quick example to highlight the dangers of Trump's actions. Hitler started coming to power following the 1929 Wall Street Crash, which all but shattered the German economy. As Jews were stereotypically seen as the money keepers, he latched onto existing anti-semitism across countries such as Russia and was able to place the blame on Jewish people, saying that they were the ones "attacking" Germany. He took a rational fear and falsely misdirected it towards an entire group of people, calling them Untermenschen (Sub Human). Over the next few years, he continued to increase the number of things to blame on Jewish people and claimed to be Germany's only saviour, gaining popularity as a result. After gaining enough public support and some physical intimidation by the SA, he rose to power. Then ever-more brutal policies against Jews, combined with incredibly intelligent subliminal messaging and propoganda, culminated in the horrific events of the Holocaust.
The reason for that brief and probably inept summary is to highlight the similarities between what happened in 1930s Germany and what is happening in the US now. Yes, terrorist attacks are occurring at a seemingly increased rate at the moment. It is rational to fear that this could come to harm you and/or your family. But banning all Muslims because of the actions of a few is like banning all condoms because every so often one is defective. It's irrational and, if left as is, leaves the door wide open to further discrimination, as seen in 1930s Germany.
Now I don't know how far Trump will go with his islamaphobia, xenophobia and racism, but I do know that this is just the start and he is definitely not America's saviour. He's literally just started his 3rd week as President and he's already making enormous changes. The UN has labelled this ban as against human rights and he just doesn't care. He claims it's for security, but he would never ban guns to protect people in his country.
As a human, not a citizen of any particular state, I find it hard to understand how you can forcefully return refugees to countries where they may die. But despite him clearly being islamaphobic, racist, xenophobic, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic and a narcissist, I can understand why so many people support him. It's clearly not because he's going to be great for the economy and the working class, as he's currently isolating the US and he's lived all his life underpaying people and companies. It's the same reason people supported Hitler. Fear.