This is why we can’t have nice things: unhinged moonbats seeing shades of something nefarious in a simple hat
Melania Trump’s latest white hat evokes colonialist comparison
When first lady Melania Trump first stepped out in front of the press Friday in Nairobi, Kenya, she was wearing an outfit suitable for the setting. She was at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, ready to pet and bottle-feed baby elephants, who were prancing and playing with their caretakers on a large mound of red clay-like dirt, which is why the first lady’s khaki jodhpur pants tucked into tall, brown leather riding boots, and crisp, white tailored shirt seemed appropriate, if a bit of a gamble.
While most people likely wouldn’t want to pair thick, red-orange mud and splashing milk-drunk baby pachyderms with a white top, sartorially, Melania Trump is not most people.
But when she moved on to her next activity, a guided safari a half-hour later at the adjacent Nairobi National Park, the first lady had added an accessory to her get up: a pristine white pith helmet. It was very “Out of Africa,” an homage perhaps to the fabled 1985 Meryl Streep and Robert Redford film, in which Streep stars as Karen Blixen, an independent woman who takes over a farm in rural Kenya in the 1920s.
However, with the hat, Trump’s outfit might have tipped the scales, moving from a practical accessory dangerously close to costume territory evocative of colonialists.
The hat was widely used by European militaries in their colonies throughout Africa and in India, according to Gentleman’s Gazette, and became a popular sun hat for civilian Europeans visiting or living in colonies in the 1930s. US President Theodore Roosevelt wore his pith helmet while on the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition after his presidency in 1909.
These people
Matt Carotenuto, a historian and coordinator of African Studies at St. Lawrence University, compared the hat choice to “(showing) up on an Alabama cotton farm in a confederate uniform,” saying that Trump on Friday “(completed) the stereotype trifecta—elephants, orphans and even the pith helmet.”
Melania completes the stereotype trifecta–elephants, orphans and even the pith helmet…..#FLOTUSinAfrica2018 @africasacountry @AFP @AP pic.twitter.com/TkgFb3w4yY
— Matt Carotenuto (@matt_carotenuto) October 5, 2018
She looks gorgeous and dignified.
While pith helmets are still available for purchase online and in hat shops, they have come to symbolize white colonialist rule over the years, and, according to The Guardian, “a symbol of status — and oppression.” It’s unclear if Trump was aware of the meaning, and her office has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the hat.
Good thing CNN is taking a neutral, journalistic approach to this story, which is simply an unhinged attacked against Melania. The nutters also attacked her boots and pretty much all her clothes.
. @FLOTUS *dances* with the kids at Nest, entering the baby orphanage as they hold her hands and bring her inside pic.twitter.com/qWG8iNZsET
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) October 5, 2018
But the kids sure loved her. And, really, that’s all that matters. Oh, and this was all about bringing aid to Africa, working through US Aid and the UN.
Compare and contrast…
https://tinyurl.com/y7ctuf4q
I’ve seen mailmen wearing them, as late as the OIdiot era.
When The Mooch visited Africa, they had to use Jane Goodall to translate.
the orphans were heard saying “she’s so much prettier than the last first lady”.
it used to be called a sun hat now it’s a symbol of colonial oppression? now I know why liberals never criticize communist colonialism, the communists never wore sun hats.
I’m surprised that blithering idiot had any idea what the proper term for that hat was.