Trump's racism and American exceptionalism

The uproar over US President Donald Trump's latest outrageous remarks attacking four members of the US Congress - Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar, all women of colour - for constantly criticising America and telling them to "go back" to the countries "from which they came" highlights the trouble with American exceptionalism.

... And the US is exceptional in many ways. It dominates the world militarily, economically and culturally, in pretty much everything from sport to the number of Nobel laureates. In 2017, it was the preferred destination for fully a fifth of all adults worldwide who desired to permanently relocate to another country. And of course, only Americans have actually walked on the moon.
The US is also exceptional in less desirable ways. It is unique among the major industrialised nations of the world in not providing its citizens with universal healthcare and has the shortest life expectancy and highest infant mortality; it incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country on the globe, its income inequality far outstrips other developed countries; and few nations can match the death toll gun violence in the US exacts every year.

.... Throughout history, powerful states have always tended to confuse material strength for moral superiority, to see their ability to oppress as a sign of divine favour and to obscure their plunder under the banner of a God-ordained mission.

The European plunder and destruction of African societies was rationalised under similar appeals to unique destinies and a "civilising mission"....

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