United States anti-discrimination laws exist for a reason. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) protects certain “classes” of people from harassment, and this protection is clearly spelled out in federal laws. Laws that President Donald Trump appears to have violated with his latest slurs against “The Squad.”
The Squad consists of Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-M.N.), Rashida Tlaib (D-M.I.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-M.A.), all of whom are women of color, and elected to Congress in 2018.
According to the EEOC website, it is tasked with enforcing laws regarding employment discrimination and prohibits harassment related to:
“…Race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age (40 or over), and physical or mental disability.”
The EEOC specifically calls out slurs, such as those Trump tweeted.
….and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
….it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
These same slurs, “Send her back,” in regard to Ilhan Omar, have now been chanted at his rallies.
The EEOC cites these as specific examples of “harassment based on national origin.” As such, Trump’s tweets, and his (and rallygoers chants) appear to violate this law.
Trump’s tweets at very least appear to violate the EEOC law more than ever in Rep. Omar’s case, as she is the only one of the four Congresswomen who wasn’t born in the U.S. and emigrated here as a Somali Refugee.
According to the EEOC website:
“Ethnic slurs and other verbal or physical conduct because of nationality are illegal if they are severe or pervasive and create an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment, interfere with work performance, or negatively affect job opportunities. … Examples of potentially unlawful conduct include insults, taunting, or ethnic epithets, such as making fun of a person’s foreign accent or comments like, ‘Go back to where you came from,’ whether made by supervisors or by co-workers.”
But the question remains: Is Trump the congresswomen’s “employer” under the definition of the EEOC, strictly speaking, and, as such, do his slurs count as harassment? Technically, no, since Trump did not appoint or otherwise have anything to do with their being elected.
In fact, their employers are the People of the districts that elected them.
However, this does not negate the fact that Trump is harassing the Congresswomen in their workplace and making it a hostile work environment, and that should be illegal — and current situations should see it argued as such in court.
As a result of the political backlash, the House approved a resolution on Tuesday to condemn Trump’s tweets as “racist comments” against the Congresswomen because his comments stoked fear in the hard of “new Americans and people of color.” The historic resolution is the first of its kind in over 100 years, according to reports.
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