The Charleston church shooter, Dylann Roof, a young white supremacist, posed for pictures while wearing apparel with the Rhodesian flag. He owned a website with the url lastrhodesian.com.
According to the historian Gerald Horne, hundreds, if not thousands of white Americans, served as mercenaries in the Rhodesian military in the 1970s.
Harper and Trump’s political careers share another crucial similarity. Both were dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct. While The Donald has been able to deflect the claims against him, Harper was forced to resign from the Rhodesian cabinet in 1968 over claims of an affair with his secretary, a reputed British agent.
As Trump tweets with the hashtag #AmericaFirst, he may not be aware of the Rhodesian antecedent of the term. But it seems to be no coincidence that his campaign tone is not out of line with the sentiments of Harper and Rhodesia’s white nationalists.
By Brooks Marmon. This article was first published by The Conversation
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