Of late, American politics feels less like organized squabbles over the minutiae of infrastructure policy and more like a mortal struggle for the soul of the country. The latest example: President Donald Trump, while stumping for an aggressive immigration policy in a meeting with numerous U.S. senators, reportedly said that the country should not allow immigrants from “sh*thole countries“—referring to Haiti and various African nations. He suggested that, instead, the U.S. should be prioritizing immigrants from countries like Norway.
The thinly-veiled racism in those comments has caused an uproar of international proportions, with American diplomats resigning in protest and African heads of state commenting on Trump’s nasty assertions.
Now, one company has taken a decidedly more humorous approach to Trump’s comments: Zambiatourism.com, a travel company based in Zambia, posted an ad reclaiming the epithet and urging people to come visit. And while the website is not associated with the official Zambia tourism board, they’ve definitely made a positive impact on behalf of the country.
“Visit ****hole Zambia,” the ad reads. “Where the only stars and stripes you’ll have to see are in the sky and on a zebra!”
The landlocked African country is, of course, not a sh*thole. Rather, it’s home to natural wonders like Victoria Falls, often ranked one of the most beautiful places on earth. Victoria Falls is roughly twice as high and twice as wide as Niagara Falls, and it’s surrounded by large parks full of hippos, elephants, rhinos, antelope and more.
Oh, and did we mention that you can even go for a swim in Devil’s Pool — so you can peek over the edge of the falls? Talk about an experience that’ll put into perspective how small and insignificant human beings are, how wonderful it is to live, how we’re all just the same, regardless of what others think of our homes.
The nation also boasts enormous lakes—some of the largest in the world—a thriving, vibrant tourism industry, and, oh, duh, is home to approximately 16 million living, breathing human beings who don’t deserve to be insulted.
Of course, the ad is tongue-in-cheek, but its message is effective. The world is not the nasty place Trump thinks it is, and his ignorance is uglier than any of these supposedly terrible countries.
The caption next to the image reads, “Where beautiful vistas and breathtaking wildlife are our trump card!”
Teehee. Now that’s taking extremely racist lemons and turning them into lemonade.
