Haitian flag

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However, this is not quite the end of the matter. One of the countries to which Mr. Trump so disdainfully referred was Haiti. It is, of course, perfectly true that Haiti is in many respects a terrible place, which is why so many people want to leave it. And yet, at the same time, it pained me to hear of it spoken of in such terms, because there is so much more to it than the vulgar epithet suggests. The history of Haiti is a profoundly moving one, if not altogether encouraging, the people valiant and their culture of enormous interest. I have been to the country only twice, but I can say that it exerts a hold on the imagination that can never be released. The tragedy and glory of the country are inextricably mixed, and somehow seem to symbolize (at least for me) the tragedy and glory of human life itself.

If I were a Haitian who had fled Haiti in search of a better and much easier life, I should nevertheless not have been pleased to hear it spoken of in this dismissive way, indeed I would have been hurt by it. I do not presume to know how familiar Mr. Trump is with Haitian history, culture, and so forth, although I have my suspicions; and of course he has principally to consider the interests of the United States and Americans, not those of Haiti and Haitians. But what he said was not witty or wise, it was merely hurtful and insulting.

It is perfectly true that when speaking or writing of political matters, you must have said very little if you have offended no one, if it is even possible to offend no one. If you say the world is round, you will have offended the flat-earthers. But I cannot see the giving of offense by the mere employment of crude and vulgar language as anything but a vice, and it is difficult to say whether it is worse if the person employing it knows or does not know what he is doing. If he knows, he cannot care; and if he does not know, he is a something of a brute.

This is not, incidentally, a defense of political correctness.