EDITORS' CORNER
OPINION: Kendi rewrites history to fit his own narrative
Ibram Kendi’s new book treats a convicted child sex offender better than it treats Donald Trump’s father.
In “Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age,” Kendi briefly discusses the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots in Kenosha, Wis. I am currently reading the book and will publish a longer review in the near future, but in the meantime something stood out as worth highlighting.
In the book, Kendi criticizes Tucker Carlson for interviewing and praising Kyle Rittenhouse.
According to Kendi’s version, “Rittenhouse traveled from his Illinois hometown to Kenosha, Wisconsin,” and eventually “shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber.”
The Howard University history professor describes these two men as “antiracist white demonstrators who tried to disarm [Rittenhouse].”
The passage suggests Kendi never followed the trial or read into it all.
First, Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha where his dad lived.
Contrary to the claims of leftist, Rittenhouse was not simply traveling around looking to get into fights, but was concerned about one of his hometowns. Reasonable people can disagree on whether it was wise for a teenager to walk around a volatile situation with a gun, but that doesn’t mean we can ignore basic facts.
That of course is what Kendi does in his whitewashing of history. Rosenbaum was not simply a peaceful American trying to “disarm” Rittenhouse. He was a convicted sex offender who clearly had anger issues. (Kendi also criticizes Viktor Orban later in the book for creating a searchable database of sex offenders).
Videos that emerged following the shooting show Rosenbaum yelling “shoot me ni***” repeatedly toward someone in a crowd.
But while deceased sex offender Rosenbaum is treated as an advocate for racial justice by Ibram Kendi, Donald Trump’s father is accused of being a Klan member.
Kendi references a 1927 Klan march in Queens, New York where, he writes, police arrested Fred Trump. He does not give any further context to this statement. The idea of course has been planted – Trump is a white supremacist just like his dad who was arrested at a Klan rally.
While it is true that Fred Trump was arrested at a Klan march, there is no proof he was in the Klan. Rather, it appears he was in the neighborhood at the time and was charged with refusal to disperse. As USA Today reported in 2020: “There is no indication in the [New York Times] article that Trump’s father was a member or supporter of the KKK.”
The shoddy writing by Kendi exposes his hypocrisy.
While the premise of the book is that people are unfairly maligning immigrants as dangerous and a threat to the cultures of various countries, Kendi himself unfairly attacks people he doesn’t like, while whitewashing those he likes. Kendi doesn’t like Donald Trump, so he ignores that his dad does not appear to have been in the Klan. He likes that people were protesting with Black Lives Matter, so Rosenbaum becomes a simple, law-abiding man trying to “disarm” not steal Rittenhouse’s gun.
Similarly, I’m sure Kendi considers himself a big advocate for justice and treating people equally – yet when it comes to Fred Trump, that same commitment falls apart.
Kendi says he has been the victim of unfair accusations in the past when it comes to the management of his “antiracist center at Boston University.
He claims to be an advocate for justice and treating people fairly – but he doesn’t extend those same ideals those he doesn’t like.
