Klotz Weighs In on Trump Admin’s Award to a Controversial South African Org in ProPublica Article

November 5, 2026

ProPublica

Audie Klotz

Political Science Department

Africa (Sub-Saharan)

Government

Human Rights

International Affairs

ProPublica

Audie Klotz

The Trump administration’s State Department is reportedly about to award nearly $1 million from its human rights bureau to AfriForum, a South African group that promotes the disputed claim that white farmers are violently targeted, to document violence and hateful rhetoric against Afrikaners.

The move follows deep cuts to the bureau’s other programs and has drawn criticism from former diplomats and academics, while the State Department says it is concerned about race-based discrimination and violence in South Africa. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Samuel Samson also claims the U.S. has a “civilizational connection” to Afrikaners.

There’s a long shared political history between Afrikaner groups and white nationalists in the U.S., says Audie Klotz, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Heighberger Family Faculty Fellow of Public Service. But, she says, “There’s no heritage connection here. It’s pure scientific racism. In the history of U.S. immigration, there’s no direct connection between South Africa and the United States.”