South African Ambassador Ousted as Trump and Musk Push White Grievance

Respected anti-apartheid crusader Ebrahim Rasool, South African Ambassador to the United States, was suddenly kicked out of the United States after speaking on a webinar about racial policies of President Donald Trump. 

Reportedly without directly attacking Trump, Rasool, imprisoned for his anti-apartheid activity, gave sensible advice on how to negotiate the government’s aversion to diversity and equitable initiatives. 

Yet, his measured words were enough for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to declare Rasool “persona non grata,” parroting a far-right media narrative accusing the diplomat of race-baiting.

The Trump administration expelled Rasool after the president signed an executive order cutting aid to the Black-led South African government. 

Citing an apartheid-era conspiracy theory, Trump falsely claimed that the government was seizing land from white farmers under a new land law. In reality, the law is meant to correct the enormous land theft under apartheid and colonial control when Black South Africans were methodically deprived. 

Both Trump and Elon Musk, who is from South Africa, have actively promoted the false story that Afrikaners, white South Africans, are under threat. 

“The supremacist assault on incumbency, we see it in the domestic politics of the U.S.A., the MAGA movement, the Make America Great Again movement, as a response not simply to a supremacist instinct, but to very clear data that shows great demographic shifts in the U.S.A.,” Rasool stated.

While Trump has moved to eliminate diversity and Rubio continues to be a willing, and often mocked, pawn, Musk’s rhetoric about race is nothing new. His most recent attack targeted the South African government, falsely claiming that his Starlink company was being denied business opportunities “because I’m not Black.” 

The comment not only distorted the reality of South Africa’s governance but also played directly into the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to stoke racial tensions on a global scale.

One person emphasized the significance of the decision to oust Rasool, taking his comments to X, formerly known as Twitter until Musk purchased the company in October 2022 and changed its name in July 2023.

“Not even during apartheid did the U.S. expel the South African ambassador, not even when they imposed sanctions against South Africa,” the social media user wrote. “This is a new low.”

Black Land Dispossession in the United States 

For most, the irony of Trump and Musk’s outrage over land ownership in South Africa is striking when compared to the long history of Black land dispossession in the United States. From the early 20th century to today, Black farmers have systematically lost more than 90% of their land—16 million acres—through a combination of racist policies, financial discrimination, and outright violence.

Many have documented the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s central role in this theft, with local white officials routinely denying Black farmers access to loans and subsidies while granting them to white landowners. White farmers also used intimidation, lynching, and fraudulent legal schemes to strip Black landowners of their property. For instance, in 1949 over a land dispute, a white neighbor killed Black farmer Luke McElroy of Cherokee County, Alabama. Furthermore, in Mississippi, the Rev. Isaac Simmons was killed in 1944 for refusing to turn over his property, which white men thought to be rich in oil reservoirs. 

The American Bar Association published a report that estimated that the total economic loss from Black land dispossession amounts to approximately $326 billion—an amount that, if counted as a national GDP, would rank in the top 20% of countries worldwide. 

A 40 Acres Project post on X noted the extreme loss Black farmers experienced during the 20th century due to racism.

“Black farmers lost 90% of their farmland between 1910-1997 largely due to decades of loan denials at the USDA,” 40 Acres Project noted in November 2021.

One social media user replied to the post emphasizing that the farmers didn’t “lose” anything but that their property was actually “stolen.”

Musk’s Mission to Advocate for Afrikaners 

Despite this vast, confirmed theft, neither Musk nor Trump have expressed concern for Black land rights, choosing to advocate the bogus claims of white settlers in South Africa. 

Musk, a native of South Africa who was raised during the apartheid era, has openly rejected the truth about his nation’s history. On this side of the pond, he uses his platform to amplify the far-right narrative that white people are under attack, whether in South Africa or in the United States.

Attorney and journalist Seth Abramson recently destroyed Musk’s mystique, challenging his alleged brilliance and exposing his alarming connections to far-right ideas. 

Abramson pointed out that Musk’s success was largely dependent on President Barack Obama, who intervened to support SpaceX after Musk had been laughed out of Moscow by Russian officials. 

“SpaceX is Musk’s only truly successful and novel company,” Abramson stated.

In a blistering series of posts on X, Abramson debunked the prevailing narrative that Musk possesses an exceptional intellect.

 “As an Elon Musk biographer, I would peg his IQ as between 100 and 110. There’s zero evidence in his biography of anything higher.” 

Further, Abramson declared that Musk “has zero personal intellectual achievements.”